The Sheep Show podcast: Recent Episodes
Jill Noble
All things ovine, sheep farming and learning more about sheep and shepherding. Learn about breeding animals and being a sheep farmer.
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The principles of ‘fit to load’ are to be used at any time the animal is being transported by road or rail.
For more information, please visit https://www.mla.com.au/fittoload where the full guide by MLA can be downloaded/printed for future use. This article has been adapted from the MLA ‘Fit to Load’ Guideline book (2019)
US links https://animal-welfare.extension.org/transport-and-care-of-sheep-and-goats/
Canadian links https://inspection.canada.ca/en/animal-health/terrestrial-animals/imports/import-policies/live-animals/2011-4
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Subscriber-only episode
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Do you ever find yourself questioning your life choices with sheep and farming? I know I have. In this episode we question life choices and explore how you know if sheeping is right for you now and when or if that might change how you might know.
An existential episode of sorts to ponder and reflect on the choices we make and the challenges that come with those choices.
Remember it's ok to question!
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Ever get the feeling that you should read the instructions!?? In this episode we explore what could and did go wrong when i didn't stop and read the label. Good advice for us all!
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It's about time that I focused on my own sheep!~ So to celebrate 175 episodes of The Sheep Show Podcast here is a special episode on Wiltshire Horn sheep - enjoy!
https://www.wiltshirehorn.org.uk/breed/
https://wiltshirehornaustralia.com.au/
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I used the heatwave milk warmer this year to feed my bottle babies. It is distributed in Australia through Shearwell and is a Pyon product from the UK. Here is what I thought!
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Subscriber-only episode
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What is it like to judge over 100 sheep and 6 breeds of sheep in one day! It was amazing! In this episode I explain my methodology and approach to judging sheep and what I focused on during my judging at Sheepvention 2024.
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What cool opportunity to explore shearing with none other than the famous Chloe!
Want to know when to shear, what you need to shear sheep and what breeds are easier to shear - check this episode out!
In this episode we explore:
How did Chloe become a shearer?
How many sheep does she shear each season?
Do you need a qualification to shear? Is that the same everywhere in the world?
Who is her typical customer when it comes to a sheep owner?
What else do she do with sheep apart from shearing?
Why do sheep need shearing? What would happen if you didn’t shear?
What is crutching? Do all sheep need to be crutched?
How often do sheep need to be shorn? When would you do it- what time is best?
What is the easiest sheep to shear and the hardest? Are different breeds different to shear?
If an owner/breeder is preparing their sheep for shearing what do they need to do to prepare?
What infrastructure do sheep owners need for shearing?
What are the risks with shearing sheep? What about injuries to the sheep or human?
What are tips for breeders if they wanted to shear their own sheep?
Would you recommend people shear their own sheep!?
What do people do with their wool?
Shearers can be hard to find, what advice would you have for people looking at the year ahead and organising their husbandry tasks?
If you want to learn more about shearing you'll love this chat with Chloe!
Get in touch with Chloe @chloetheshearer on Facebook and www.chloetheshearer.com
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Rachel is a power house of knowledge and energy! Not only has she and her husband Kyle set up a sheep milking operation she has written a book about it!
Enjoy this episode whether you want to milk your sheep or not!
Check out what Rachel is up to on her insta handle
@whoopsydaisyfarm
And her book @
https://sawdustpublishing.com/product/the-guide-to-homestead-dairy-sheep/
www.sawdustpublishing.com
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Patience is a virtue and in this episode we explore how patient we might need to be when breeding maiden ewes - lots of lessons here for me!
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More tales and tails of lambing on the farm, including challenges and surprises with lambing maidens. Enjoy!
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The highs and lows, lessons and experiments from this year's lambing so far! Get ready for some very gory insights!
The sheep magazine in digital copy:
https://assba.com.au/Main.asp?_=Muster&D=/edit/Muster/&W=F&X=R
To subscribe to the sheep magazine follow the link below:
https://assba.com.au/products/display.asp?ID=1&Title=The%20MUSTER%20MAGAZINE%20annual%20subscription
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Where do hair sheep come from? Are they are fad? What are their features and advantages and what breeds are there? Enjoy this journey into the amazing world of hair sheep breeds!
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What are dual purpose sheep breeds? How many are in this category and how do they vary country by country. Learn all about dual purpose sheep breeds in this episode!
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I love wool! Who knew there were so many breeds that offer us such a brilliant resource. Enjoy learning about the variety of wool sheep breeds that we have, where they come from and what qualities of wool they have.
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Subscriber-only episode
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Talking our fight zone episode to the next level for you, my lovely subscriber! What are the tricks to make managing, moving and handling sheep easy. In this episode we talk about having a sixth sense with your sheep so working with them becomes easy! These tips will help reduce stress on you and your sheep every time you interact.
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In this episode we explore sheep that are primarily raised and valued for their meat production.
These individual types of meat sheep are selected and bred for their ability to gain weight rapidly. Each lamb produces a lean, muscular high-yield carcass which is desirable for the cook, the chef or the consumer!
We specifically explore :
What are meat sheep
Breeds of meat sheep of the world
Why breed meat sheep
Where you might find meat sheep
Pros and cons of meat sheep
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Disclaimer - history was not my best subject at school! Nevertheless here is my attempt at a short history of sheep!
https://www.britannica.com/animal/mouflon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheep
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Following on from the episode on terminal sheep systems in this episode we explore the pros and cons of the maternal production system when breeding sheep.
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A terminal sire is typically used in a commercial breeding program. This is a breeding program where the offspring of the sire will generally be slaughtered for meat. As a rule, a terminal sire’s primary use is to produce good quality market animals.
Terminal sires are used but they are rarely, if ever, used to produce replacements or breeding animals. In a terminal sire breeding system, breeding and replacements animals are often bought in.
In this episode we explore the terminal approach in more detail.
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Subscriber-only episode
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It is a reality for us all in these challenging tight times with high interest rates that we might need to reduce costs in any business and on any farm. In this episode we explore what we are doing to reduce costs without negatively impacting animal welfare or productivity on the farm.
Enjoy this reality check of an episode!
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Ever dreamed of an easy, hassle free place to market and sell your sheep - well such a place now exists in Australia now but soon to come to a country near you!
Youchoose's mission is to create a simple and easy-to-use directory with practical features. A transparent and collaborative network of breeders and animal lovers.
They have created a directory for all animals, whether you are a sheep breeder, dog owner or breeder budgies!YouChoose Pets and Livestock is for you – a directory where you can easily be found.
They offer a permanent page to display your breeding animals and what you do. With the ability to add as much information as YouChoose. Create a visual family tree for each animal, display genetic reports and awards as well as upload photos and videos to showcase your animals.
YouChoose’s purpose is to lessen the complexities that come with buying and selling animals. No more sloppy record-keeping or lengthy communications with interested parties.
You can now easily find pets and livestock for sale near you through simple filtering options or set your custom distance radius. Connect with a range of breeders from birds, dogs, reptiles, cats, and livestock from around Australia.
Find and download the app here:
https://apps.apple.com/au/app/youchoose/id6468879122
https://youchoosepetsandlivestock.com/
https://youchoosepetsandlivestock.com/a-fresh-solution-for-animal-breeding/
https://www.facebook.com/youchoosepets/
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Sheep are prey animals and prey animals have a flight zone. The flight zone of an animal is the area surrounding an animal that if encroached upon by a potential predator or threat, including humans, will cause alarm and escape behavior.
We can use this to manage, move or muster sheep in a safe way in a paddock or in yards.
https://www.grandin.com/behaviour/principles/flight.zone.html
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All the behind the scenes info on pregnancy scanning and muscle scanning - how I found out my sheep have IMF (intra muscular fat!) and how I have increased my ewe to lamb percentage by nearly 50%!!!
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What is sheep scanning, why do it and what do I use the data for? I've been scanning sheep two ways this week - here is why i do it!
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What are the differences and similarities with farming sheep in Australia and Ireland? In this episode we chat again with Andrew, my brother about his time in Australia and what he has noticed while being on several sheep enterprises while here.
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A bittersweet time for me in Ireland over the last 5 weeks. Here are all the tips and unusual strategies we used while lambing in Ireland with my brother.
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Focus on Forelimbs
Forelimbs, front legs or shoulders in a sheep actually hold up to 60 per cent of the weight of a sheep! I chatted with Matt Hill from Aurora Park Hampshire Downs and Border Leicester stud recently to explore all things fore in sheep!
How important are shoulders?
Matt remarks that there is more pressure on the front legs as they hold up more of the animal overall. Shoulders are important for three crucial functions. These are: standing up, walking and running. As a prey animal their shoulder function is built to run away from predators—like running away from us when we walk into their paddocks sometimes! Their shoulder function is built to run and run fast!
Matt Hill is a third-generation sheep farmer and stud breeder. Matt actually breeds seven breeds of sheep, three breeds being registered ASSBA stud sheep! Matt is a prolific collector and reader of sheep books and a big podcast consumer too.
Matt runs Aurora Park Hampshire Down and Border Leicester stud. He also has a Shropshire stud too! Matt also runs Shepherd Tech, a Laparoscopic AI services business specialising in AI in Sheep.
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So what is the natural grazing behaviour of sheep and how does it compare to a goat or cow. When should my sheep be feeding/eating and for how long? No doubt there are all thoughts you have had while ruminating on your sheep! Well in this episode I explore my own observations and research on the topic of sheep grazing behaviour.
Enjoy ruminating on this one!
Here are the big words I mentioned:
Crepuscular pattern - grazing at twilight and dusk
Photosynthetic activity in plants in then afternoon
Research mentioned:
www.redalyc.org/journal/3031/303168054026/html/
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We will all have to deal with the death of a sheep maybe from natural causes like old age or you may even need to euthanise an animal. What are the options so you treat the animal in a moral and ethical way at the end of their life. What do you do with their body. In this episode we explore some options for you to think about.
Do know that there may be legal requirements that you need to follow for this in your location or state.
Here is a US link which has lots of other links which may help you: https://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/mortality.htm
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Can a single born ram produce twins? Who makes that biggest difference the ewe or the ram? In the episode we explore who is more important in the twinning game!
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Did you know that 95% of parasites are on pasture and only about 5% are within the sheep. This means parasite larvae numbers present in the pasture are an important factor to consider for worm management. So how do you manage worms on your farm and in your fields, we explore several approaches in this episode for you.
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Want to know what drench to use and when to drench, this episode will help you explore the different types of drenches and understand more about when to use drenches on your sheep.
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Subscriber-only episode
We talk a lot about the final trimester and how important it is when we are breeding sheep but the second trimester is also a very crucial trimester to understand. In this subscriber only episode we explore what happens in this trimester and what to do to support your ewes during the second trimester.
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The biggest threat to sheep and lambs - parasites! The biggest issue we have with parasites comes from Barber's Pole Worm or Haemonchus Contortus.
In this episode we explore the worm, what it does, how it is different and how to win in the fight against it. We also explore some new learnings I've had this season about our foe Barber's Pole Worm. I hope this helps you sheep well for the season to come!
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What is flushing, how to do it and why do it - in this episode we explore all of these questions to help you prepare for joining 2024 no matter when your joining/mating season happens!
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Subscriber-only episode
We know sheeping and farming can be stressful so here are some things I plan to help me reduce the mental load so I can sheep well throughout the year!
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A common question and something to think about is what is the difference between grass and grain fed lamb both for us as producers and also for us as consumers.
Scientists who compared grass fed lamb meat with grain fed lamb meat in a feedlot found that: Lambs grazing in pasture had 14% less fat and about 8 % more protein compared to grain-fed lamb. Grass fed lamb meat is also an excellent source of vitamin B-12, niacin, zinc, and a good source of iron.
In this episode we explore the key concepts to help you make decisions that work best for you.
More research
https://regenfarms.com.au/blog/grass-fed-beef-and-lamb-vs-grain-fed-whats-the-difference#:~:text=Similar%20to%20the%20above%2C%20scientists%20who%20compared%20grass,niacin%2C%20zinc%2C%20and%20a%20good%20source%20of%20iron.
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I've been lucky enough to have two experts on feeding sheep come to my farm and give me some advice. Here is what we talked about and what actions I have taken and what results I have had so far! Get ready to be amazed!!
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sSo no doubt you are in wind down mode for the year and it is a good time to reflect on all things sheep! What did you do well or what went well in 2023 and what are the takeaways from the year and area to improve for 2024.
In this episode I share with you my five lessons from sheeping in 2023. Enjoy!
See you in 2024!
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So what do you buy that sheep person who has everything.... something sheep related of course!!
With sales in the air, birthdays, holiday and festive shopping to think about, here are some ideas on sheep presents that could just hit the sheep spot for you or for that sheep crazy person in your life.
I've also included some DIY sheep related gifts that you can make yourself and give to people as presents!
So happy sheep shopping!
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So a huge question I get asked is should I go stud with my sheep? The question really relates to your WHY, why are you doing this!? Go beyond making money and breeding great sheep - what are you really wanting to achieve with your sheep, what do you really want to focus on with your sheep. There are so many reasons why we do what we do and yours will be yours so spend time working that out and that will help you make YOUR choice!
While you are pondering your answer this episode will help you understand the pros and cons or going stud or staying commercial. Either way.... sheep well!!
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Prevention is always better than cure! So what can you do to reduce hoof issues, lameness and any productivity issues in your sheep? In this episode we explore the key things that you can do to avoid most sheep foot problems in the first place!
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Subscriber-only episode
Yes we all make them and you know what, they are good to reflect on without fear of judgement.
I found this such a good exercise to do and I am so thrilled to be able to open up and share these mistakes with you, my sheep besties! I truly hope this episode helps you learn from the mistakes I feel we have made over the last 8 years. I hope it helps you to reflect on any mistakes you have made to help you be more successful in your sheep enterprise moving forward. Enjoy and thank you for being a loyal subscriber XXX
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So you love your sheep and want to grow and expand! Firstly - great decision!! But how do you do it? What steps do you take? How do you move forward in the right direction and do the most important thing first?
In this episode we explore exactly that all the steps you need to take to grow from 3 to 30 sheep or from 10 to 100 sheep or whatever number is right for you and your land. I do hope this episode helps you grow with confidence and clarity on what you need to think about and do moving forward.
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Ahh the age old question - what drench do I get for me sheep? Well... it depends! This question has more follow up questions that answers. The main question to ask yourself is what worms am I trying to actually drench/kill. Once you know that or get close to knowing that you can then target the little suckers.
In this episode we explore pour on drenches, injectable drenches and drenches that go down the sheep's throat. We look at the active ingredients in the drench and from that decide what is the best way to go.
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So what are my go to natural approaches for sheep issues and health concerns and what have I used them all for. In this episode we explore five best natural therapies some of which you can get really cheaply or you might even have them in your kitchen cupboard!
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Lamb prices are rock bottom right now in Australia and maybe globally too. So what do we do? How do we take more control and what are the opportunities for us when times are tough in farming and primary production? In this episode we explore the hope and support that is there and how to move forward despite the challenging times.
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Subscriber-only episode
No doubt you have come across new sheep breeds which are very popular and you might be tempted to give them a go and experiment. Are these new breeds hype and fad or is there substance there and fact? How can you make the best decision about jumping on breed hype?
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The most important paddock to manage first is the paddock between the ears”
***Charlie Arnott, Regenerative Farmer and Educator
In this episode we explore what is regenerative agriculture, why do it and how to it including a list of things to do aligning with the 6 core principles of regen ag.
Happy Farming!***
Resources and further education:
Charles Massey Call of the Reed Warbler
Charlie Arnott
Declan McDonald and www.wpcln.org,au
https://www.youtube.com/@WPCLN/about
•Landcare & CMA supporting initiatives and events in social media and in the paddock
•Regeneration International
•Regenerative Agriculture Alliance Australia
•Tertiary studies in Regenerative Agriculture
•Taking the learning to primary school students
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I love my customers! They are amazing and I've got to meet new ones and visit existing ones over the last few weeks and I feel so blessed. So how can you attract amazing customers to your sheep business? In this episode we explore the strategies to help you avoid the rock bottom prices and the tyre kickers on social media and build a sustainable sheep enterprise which you love.
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Not the most positive of thoughts but it is a fact of life when farming that drought occurs. So what can you do now to help prepare both you and your sheep so you both bounce back as best you can.
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Salt is vitally important to ruminants, playing an essential role in growth, efficiency and reproduction. With careful consideration of flock salt requirements, shepherds can take simple steps to ensure demands are met thus maximising health and productivity.
The information above was only a brief overview. The decision to supplement should be based on flock need and production goals. If you are unsure, it is best to seek expert advice. Further interesting information regarding salt in animal physiology and pasture systems can be found online.
Salt and Reproduction: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1751731111000152
Fertiliser affects: https://www.pda.org.uk/pda_leaflets/6-potash-magnesium-sodium/grazing/
Salt to ruminant and horses: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/11987906.pdf
Salt and water quality · https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/111348/water-for-livestock-interpreting-water-quality-tests.pdf
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Subscriber-only episode
Not vet bashing but helping us understand more about why vets say the things they say, how we can work with our vet better and how we can see the bigger picture but they may not.
Dr Ken Berry's book I refer to is called Lies my Doctor told me, it's an intriguing read!
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What sort of sheep equipment is right for me? This is a question I get asked all the time. There is no one size fits all, it's all about what do you do with your sheep.
In this episode we explore how to make the best decision to help you, and explore the different sort of sheep handlers and equipment that is on the market. Happy shopping!
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Subscriber-only episode
Is showing ruining the commercial sheep industry and vice versa. What really goes on behind the scenes with some producers who show sheep and how sustainable are these practices for those of us who are also running commercial enterprises. In this premium episode we explore the challenges and woes!
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As always lambing has its ups and downs. Here is what the 2023 lambing season has offered us so far!
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What do you need to have in your birthing kit and lamb survival kits and what is new in my kit for 2023 - check it all out in this episode!
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Not ideal of course but if we are aiming for maximum lamb survival bottle feeding lambs is a part of shepherding. So what are the pros and cons. Why would we do it, how to know you need to intervene and how do we actually do it and for how long do we do it. All you bottle feeding questions are answered in this timely episode! Thanks Robyn for the idea for this episode!
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The Ovine mammary gland is an intricate structure composed of secretory tissue (Parenchyma) and supporting ligaments, venous, lymphatic, adipose and nervous tissue (Stroma). There are two mammary glands divided by a suspensory ligament contained within the udder as shown in the Ovine udder anatomy diagram.
Mammary Gland Development
The development of the mammary gland (mamogenesis) commences in the embryo and continues through to lactation. Ewe lambs are born with cistern, teats and some large ducts. Alveoli and interlobular ducts develop several months after birth along with fat and connective tissue. During pregnancy and in response to estrogen and progesterone, the concentration of blood vessels and secretory cells increases, with new alveoli and duct formation continuing for several weeks post lambing.
Lactation
In the last trimester of pregnancy, changes in the concentration of circulating hormones and growth factors induces lactogenesis, enabling milk production. Nutrients, white blood cells and antibodies are transported to the secretory alveoli by surrounding blood vessels and lymphatic tissue. The secretory epithelial cells produce milk particles from the nutrients absorbed from stromal tissue. Milk globules, composed of milk particles and cytoplasmic fluid, are moved to the inner lumen by pinch off part of the cell wall in a process known as apocrine secretion. In response to external stimuli, nerves innervating the udder signal the release of oxytocin from the brain, which acts on the myoepithelial layer causing the alveolus to contract and forcibly expel milk from the lumen into the network of ducts and down to the gland cistern. Suckling or manual milking causes milk to pass through the annular ring into the teat cistern where it is ejected from the teat through the streak canal. Shortly after milking, the teat sphincter closes preventing milk leakage and infection.
In sheep and goats approximately 50-70% of the milk is stored in the glands cistern unlike 20% in cattle. Sheep with larger gland cistern can store more milk and cope with less frequent milking, which is beneficial for dairy sheep.
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Subscriber-only episode
We've all been there, sheep go down and we are hoping and praying they will get up again. In this subscriber only episode we explore some strategies on how to save a sheep - what I have tried recently, what I used and the results!
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OJD – an iceberg disease
Ovine Johne's Disease (OJD) is endemic across NSW after its detection on the Northern Tablelands in May 2023. While the infection was traditionally considered a southern disease, a number of cases across the Northern Tablelands have been diagnosed over the past 12 months. OJD is said to be an iceberg disease. For ever one animal showing signs of OJD another 25 most likely are sub clinically infected and show no signs. So that visibly impacted animal is the tip of the iceberg.
Ovine Johne’s disease (OJD) is an incurable, infectious wasting disease of sheep. OJD is caused by the sheep strain of the bacterium Mycobacterium paratuberculosis, which leads to the intestinal wall slowly thickening, causing reduced absorption of nutrients from the intestine. This eventually leads to severe loss of condition – infected sheep can waste away and die.
The bacteria are passed in the manure of infected animals, contaminating pasture and water supplies and spreading infection to other susceptible sheep. Once a flock is endemically infected with OJD, it is difficult to eradicate.
OJD is often not diagnosed in a flock until a significant proportion of the flock is already infected and deaths are occurring. There is often no sign for the first few years – that is why it is often referred to as a ‘silent but costly disease’. Infected sheep can be shedding the bacteria in their manure for a considerable period (sometimes years) even though the flock still looks healthy, but they are contaminating the pasture and infecting other sheep.
http://www.ojd.com.au/
http://www.ojd.com.au/publications/
OJD and Crohns
https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=Awr933VrTJBkDE4ApAk36At.;_ylu=Y29sbwNncTEEcG9zAzIEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3Ny/RV=2/RE=1687207147/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fwww.foodstandards.gov.au%2fpublications%2fdocuments%2fedit_Report_JD%2520and%2520CD-%2520Final%2520Dec%25202004.pdf/RK=2/RS=NnhmukaeZ5y5g06X7280P2l6eXs-
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Colostrum is the first milk a newborn lamb will receive from its mother. A concentrated mix of vitamins, minerals, fats, protein, carbohydrates, antimicrobials, growth and immune factors. It acts as a laxative, aids ewe and lamb bonding, provides energy for thermoregulation and acts as a vital source of immunoglobulins required for passive immunity against intestinal and respiratory pathogens. Lamb morbidity and mortality has a significant impact on sheep production systems with the majority of pre-weaning losses occurring within the first two weeks of life. Poor quality and quantity of colostrum in the first 24 hours plays a significant role in lamb death, disease, future growth and reproductive performance.
Immediately postpartum, the lamb experiences an environmental and microbial assault. Lambs have a small surface area to weight ratio, once exposed to the environment, they lose heat quickly and require a boost of rapidly usable energy to aid essential thermoregulation. Cold, wet and windy conditions accelerate heat loss and add extra stressors. Colostrum is vital to stave off hypoglycaemia and hypothermia as it is energy dense with fats, lactose and non-immune proteins necessary to generate heat. Approximately 150-290ml/kg of colostrum is required in the first 24 hours depending on weather conditions, ideally with 50ml/kg received immediately after birth (Banchero, 2015).
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How do you know a ewe needs your help? What can we do if we see a ewe in labour? How long to wait before we glove up!? and What actually causes difficult lambing issues anyway- all is revealed in this episode!
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Explore the 7 things to look for when you are buying a farm to run sheep on or if you are wanting to upgrade your farm or develop a plan for your farm for the future.
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Subscriber-only episode
What was our pregnancy scanning results for 2023, what do we use the information for and what can your scanner tell you about the future - prepare to be amazed!!
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What do we need to know about sheep's conformation and style? What exactly do we mean when we say that a sheep has style? In this episode we explore what you need to know!
Conformation is the anatomy and skeletal function of a sheep. It impacts the sheep’s health, adaptability, longevity, and productivity. Conformation or structural correctness is made up of the following three aspects:
· The ‘Five Ts’ assessment methodology to visually and mentally summarise an animal or compare groups at a distance before even touching them
· Soundness, structure, balance plus breed traits
· Visual confirmation scoring the animal from 1-5. 1=best 5=worst
The Five Ts
The ‘Five Ts’ assessment methodology to visually and mentally summarise an animal or compare groups at a distance before even touching them.
o Toes - pasterns, fetlock, knees, hocks and leg profile
o Teeth - at lip / mouth profile, jawline
o Testicles - two well balance, noticeable, full and in a firm scrotum.
o Teats - two, well placed with a slight outward tendency attached to a symmetrical udder not always seen in wool sheep but should be noticeable in short wool ewes
o Type - the breed of animal. Knowledge of the unique breed standard features is also required
Soundness
A sheep should be able to move and subsist painlessly, efficiently, and productively throughout its life. The sheep should:
· Be in good condition and healthy (environmental consideration needs to be given here too)
· Have sound feet
· Stand squarely
· Have all body parts in correct position, number, and condition especially the Five Ts as above
Structure
Structure is the way a sheep’s body parts are put together or arranged to form the whole animal.
Structural correctness is important for movement, fertility and longevity. For rams it is crucial for them to be able to mount and impregnate ewes plus potentially passing on genetic traits that maintain or enhance physical structure. For a ewe being structurally correct allows her to get pregnant, carry lambs full term, birth lambs and feed and wean them. Again, with the expectation is that her lambs will maintain or enhance genetic traits like femininity, udder development and teat placement.
Structural correctness includes:
· Growth potential
· Volume/capacity or depth of body
· Condition of the sheep (this is more environmental)
· Legs
· Back
· Neck
· Shoulder
· Eye socket
Balance and Style
Balance in sheep deals with having appropriate portions of:
- Body width
- Body depth
- Body length
Sheep should be wide and deep at the rump and tight and trim through the forequarter with the largest volume of weight in the leg and loin.
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So you have jobs you need doing on your farm and you need to recruit an army with youth on their side. This episode will help you find, attract, select and keep young blood to your farm and sheep enterprise. Of course there are lots of other benefits when we attract youth, especially for those young people who don't have a farm in their family or don't attend a school with a agriculture program. Let's spread the sheep love to all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds I say!
In this episode you will meet Brooklyn Collocott from Young Farmers Australia on Instagram. Brooklyn has been working here at HVF for four years now. She is a year 10 student who is also studying Agriculture at Mary MacKillop College in Leongatha.
And Tash Pollard is back! You might remember her from the Happy Hampies podcast. Tash is an Animal Science student from Federation University in Churchill, Victoria, Australia. She runs Blackpond Hampshire Down Stud based in Langwarrin Victoria and has completed her 12 day placement here with us on here farm.
This was a very organic chat with the girls on how farmers and sheep breeders in particular can tap into the resource and energy that is youth. By doing so we give back as well as pave a positive future for sheep and agriculture in our communities.
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Meet Tash Pollard from Blackpond Hampshire Down Stud as we explore the happiest sheep around!
https://www.facebook.com/blackpondhampshiredowns
The Hampshire Down or Hampshire is a British breed of sheep. It originated in about 1829 from cross-breeding of Southdowns with the Old Hampshire breed, the Wiltshire Horn and the Berkshire Nott, all horned, white-faced sheep — these were native to the open, untilled, hilly stretch of land known as the Hampshire Downs.
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How old is old when it comes to a sheep? Are they similar to other animals when it comes to aging them in human years? Is there a formula for calculating sheep years in human years? For the answer to these questions and more have a listen here!
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Subscriber-only episode
All farms will have both capital and operational costs, obviously every farm is going to be different but the item will be similar if not exactly the same. So what costs do we have and what amount are they for us this tax year.
Another intimate expose of behind the scenes of our farm packaged up for all my sheep besties X
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Selenium is essential for life. Selenium is needed for thyroid function and the removal of toxins from the body. Even humans with low selenium struggle with joint problems – most often arthritis in the knees. In livestock selenium also presents problems with movement. Your sheep are going to have lambing issues and your babies are going to struggle if you don’t have enough of it in your animal feed and your soil.
Selenium affects the oxygen supply to the muscles. Oxygen-deprived muscles are weaker and less elastic. Lambs with severe selenium deficiency are diagnosed with “white muscle disease” – revealing that the muscle tissue lacks a strong oxygenated blood supply when selenium is an issue.
Selenium works in tandem with vitamin E – the sex vitamin. Vitamin E is essential in all phases of reproduction, so you can see why Selenium and vitamin E deficiency will show up at lambing time.
Learn all about these two amazing essential elements of your sheep's diet in this pod!
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Non, je ne regrette rien! No, I do not regret anything! Ok that is a bit of a stretch to say there are not things we regret doing but there are six things we definitely do not regret doing. on our farm and with our sheep.
In this episode I share six key things that we don't regret doing since we bought our farm in 2015.
What are the things that you don't regret doing on your farm?
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Cud spilling or broken cud is a colloquial term for an abnormality in sheep. We typically notice dark staining around the bottom lip and jaw when the sheep is eating or chewing their cud. Affected sheep are usually culled and definitely not breed with as they usually do not grow or thrive well. But what causes cud spilling and how come it is such a mystery?
What causes the staining?
The staining around the mouth is due to the animal dribbling saliva and ingesta during rumination. This is most likely from an inability to control the cud efficiently. Although the nature of cud spilling is generally not understood very well in either farming or research circles there is one piece of research on the topic in the archives which we can look at to shed some light on the mystery.
WIB Beveridge researched cud spilling. His research was reported in The Australian Veterinary Journal in 1936, eight out of the 13 cases examined were due to partial or complete absence of the free end of the tongue. Of the five remaining cases that Beveridge looked at, two showed no obvious structural abnormality, one had deformed cheek teeth and one had a cyst in the pharynx and one had an old fracture of the mandible (jaw bone).
Beveridge concluded that the staining was most commonly caused by the partial or complete absence of the free end of the tongue. He noted that the amount of staining varied as did the degree of deformity of the tongue. The cause of the deformity of the tongue is not known. Interestingly in Beveridge’s paper he suggested that the tongue issues may have been caused by foxes who are partial to lamb’s tongue it seems.
Other causes or theories on cud spilling
Dysphagia is difficulty swallowing — taking more time and effort to move food or liquid from the mouth to the stomach. Dysphagia can be painful for the animal.
The technical word for cud spilling is that the sheep or lamb is dysphagic and drops it cud, this can arise for a number of reasons. It can be an indication of diseases of the teeth, gums, or conditions that would cause a sore mouth. Less commonly it has been seen in sheep with high stomach acidity or on poor feed. This arises because the acidic cud has a sharp pH, bad taste, or because of pain.
If you have a sheep who is dropping cud, then the first step would be for you/your vet to perform an oral examination. The teeth, soft tissues, and bone should be examined and palpated, as you need to check for dental disease but also inflammation or abscessation of the gums, ulcerations/lacerations/vesicles of the mucosa, changes to the tongue (for example, wooden tongue) and swellings of the bone (like lumpy jaw). The lymph nodes under the jaw should be checked as these can enlarge with infectious and inflammatory causes of oral disease.
The most common cause of throat injury is from improper use of a drench gun. Where anthelmintics have trace elements added, especially copper, the damaged throat lining can become ulcerated. Poor bolus administration can cause the same problem. Many with this injury do not improve.
Some suggest that lambs with cud spilling will grow out of it once their mouth and teeth have developed fully. Most stud breeders have zero tolerance and simply don’t risk it and cull from the first sight of cud spilling regardless.
So the jury is still out on what we and the researchers think causes cud spilling. What ideas do you have?
If you are interested you can find the full Beveridge article online at Wiley Online library which is a paid online library service.
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How can we encourage the sort of sheep behaviour that is good for us and makes our life easier and the sort of behaviour that is nature and easy for our sheep too? In this episode we explore sheep behavioural traits, how sheep react, how sheep see and hear and how sheep move.
This episode will get you thinking like a sheep!!
Specific Behaviour Traits
Sheep are created with specific behaviour traits. Knowing
what these traits are can make handling them much easier.
Sheep are social animals, so try and prevent seclusion.
Sheep by nature are followers; let them follow - you or each other
Sheep are docile animals by nature.
Sheep have good memories; these memories need to be
positive ones as much as possible.
Sight and Hearing
Sheep and other farm animals have a well developed sense
of hearing. They capture a wider frequency of sound than is
audible to our ears. So talk to them in a calm,
reassuring voice. When they sense that you mean no harm,
they will turn to their usual business of eating, drinking and
feeding their young.
Humans have binocular vision, focusing both eyes
simultaneously to achieve good depth perception and
clarity for objects directly in front of them. However humans
peripheral vision is very limited. Sheep see the world through
a different set of eyes than ours. Sheep have their eyes set
on the side of the head. They have a narrow field of
binocular vision in front of their head and wide peripheral
fields of monocular vision.
The area in the back of the sheep's head is a blind spot
when their head is raised. If a sheep is approached from the
rear, a handler can remain undetected visually and have a
better chance at catching the animal. With its head down in
a grazing position the sheep can see in all directions; a good
defensive adaptation whereby the sheep can see predators'
from all sides while grazing.
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Subscriber-only episode
Want to know how much we earn from sheep? How much meat do we sell and what revenue do we make from it? How much do we make from selling livestock? How much do we generate per acre on our farm?
In this X rated episode (not really just kidding but I am being very intimate and revealing with information here) I share with you the actual figures we have earned in the last three tax years from sheep, including the current tax year of 2022/2023. I calculate how much per acre we generate and share this with you. See how X rated it is!! This is extra intimate content for you as a subscriber, you desire a bit of spice in your sheep life! Thank you for subscribing X
We also explore what you can do to generate more income from sheep on your farm even if you have couple of acres.
Share with me how you are going with your revenue per acre - jill@hallstonvalleyfarm.com.au
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We all know the wonders of sheep but did you know they can spark creativity in artists! I do hope you enjoy meeting Ryder, Liz and Hazel, (their sheep spirit animal) from the Dust Bowl Faeries in this rather creative episode of The Sheep Show Podcast! Both Ryder and Liz are passionate about music and animals and in this episode we learn about how they create harmony between music and animals, particularly sheep, in their lives.
A faerie-tale fusion of dark cabaret, gothic polka and post-punk music, Dust Bowl Faeries are a dark-carnival band from the New York Hudson Valley. The band's eclectic repertoire of songs draw inspiration from animals (including sheep!, animal advocacy, circus songs, murder ballads and Eastern European folk music. Ryder & Hazel are joined by musicians Rubi LaRue, Jon B. Woodin, Liz LoGiudice & Andrew Stein.
To donate, listen or follow the band head to:
https://www.and-hof-animals.org/donate-today
https://dustbowlfaeries.com/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWSmL9uBZE7Ng3-eGsMBI-A
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We have tried a number of agri-ventures on our farm - not all have worked! But the ones that have worked have now tripled our farm income!
In this episode, interfaced on YouTube we explore what is agriventuring, what might work for you and how to choose which agri-venture works for you!
Watch this session on YourTube via @hallstonvalleyfarm
https://www.youtube.com/@hallstonvalleyfarm
https://studio.youtube.com/video/EqyjYKt5hpY/edit
Case studies
Blue Tree Honey Farm Dunbalk
I Love Farms Delburn
Unyoked.co
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What is hybrid vigour in sheep?
Pros and cons
What should I do with my sheep - cross or pure/straight breed? This pod will help you make your decision!
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Worried about having rams fighting when you introduce them to each other? In this episode we explore some rather novel ways to help rams adjust to having each other around without it resulting in blood and guts all over the place.
Have you tied any of these strategies - what worked for you?? Get in touch at jill@hallstonvalleyfarm.com.au to let me know your experiences with ram jams!
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Learn about the Babydoll breed in this episode with Sheep Show Podcast listener Elaine Hausser from Five Bears Farm in Queensland and Sue Curliss from Sugargum Farm in Victoria.
This is the first episode looking at different breeds of sheep. What is your breed of sheep? Get in touch with me at jill@hallstonvalleyfarm.com.au and let's talk about getting your breed of sheep featured on the pod this year!!
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So can sheep help you manage weeds on your farm? In this episode we look at three weeds that impact us on our farm and how we manage them and where sheep have been useful for us?
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Subscriber-only episode
What has worked for us at HVF when trying to grow forage for flushing and finishing especially in a regenerative way (aka no tilling or soil disturbance)?
Link to the Evergraze research:
https://www.evergraze.com.au/library-content/perennials-for-finishing-lambs/index.html#:~:text=Chicory%20and%20lucerne%20extend%20the%20growing%20season%20and,between%20149%20%E2%80%93%20336%20g%2Fhd%2Fday%20under%20short%20rotations.
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What are the reason why ewes fail to get pregnant? Who is to blame? How would you know it is your ewe or your ram?? In this episode we explore the reasons ewes fail to pregnant, what you look for and how to manage things so you have a better joining rate.
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A very popular and topical questions can you use electric fencing, poly wire or electric netting with sheep? Well we have tried them all and before you go out and buy a new fencing system learn from our experiences and trials by tuning in to this episode!
Here is the charger system which I mention in the pod:
https://thunderbird.net.au/
Sheep well!
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Subscriber-only episode
Welcome to this first subscriber only episode! In this episode we explore how sheep cycle, the hormones that are involved and what seasonal elements influence ewes to cycle and perhaps cycle early!
I also share with you my latest experiment with joining!
Thanks for subscribing and sheep very well! Jill X
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Who actually let the dogs out? Managing wild dog predation with Greg Mifsud from the Wild Dog Action Plan - www.wilddogplan.org.au
In this episode we explore:
How to identify if you have wild dogs in your area and what you can do about them as well as general resources that your organisation provides and where the audience can go for help.
Tell us about the Wild Dog Plan and who are what and what you do?
What are the current statistics on wild dog predation on sheep in Australia? Is this similar or different to global data (about 50% of my listeners are in the USA)
Are wild dogs worse than foxes as predators? If so why?
Is it just lambs that are vulnerable to wild dog attack?
I’ve heard that if a lamb is 8 kilos or more they are safe from fox attacks – thoughts on this and is if different with wild dogs?
How can you identify if you have wild dogs in your area?
What you can do about them?
What is the Wild Dog plan doing on a national level to help?
What can farmers do to assist?
What doesn’t work?
What about things like livestock guardian animals, fox lights, radio noises?
What can small holders do if they suspect a wild dog attack?
What if it is the neighbour’s dog? What rights do you have as a landowner with dogs on your property?
What general resources does your organisation provide and where the audience can go for help?
Get further info:
Pestsmart.com.au
State agencies
National wild dog action plan www.wilddogplan.org.au
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No accountant speak here this is the 101 basic stuff you need to think about and then go to your accountant and get specific advice from the experts!! This will help you set things up with a business mindset from the start though!
Happy farm financing!
Meet Stacey Bush a White Suffolk sheep farmer from WA and a Sheep Show podcast listener to boot! Join us as we explore some top tips from Stacey. In this episode we explore:
How do you lamb? Talk us through your lambing approach – paddocks, moving ewes and lambs, feeding regime,
How do you decide what sheep to cull after lambing?
What advice would you have for someone who was buying sheep and wants to start breeding ewes – older experienced ewe or maiden?
What do you look for when a ewe is struggling?
What is the biggest mistake people make when lambing
So what does a year in sheeping looking like. In this pod I take you through the typical schedule of my sheep enterprise. We explore the crucial stages and the decisions that need to be made as well as the things I can going to do differently next year! It's all learning! Enjoy this episode!
Discovery Matters
A collection of stories and insights on matters of discovery that advance life...
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Who knew that sheep can get ringworm! It is a thing!
Learn more in this episode.
Here are some other online resources which might be helpful for you on this topic:
https://u.osu.edu/sheep/2021/04/20/club-lamb-fungus-ringworm/
https://flextraninc.com/blog/2017/ringworm-in-sheep/
Sheep are one of the most studied farm species in terms of their ability to process information from faces. In this episode we explore the ways in which sheep process information, how cognitively switched they are and how we can use this information to help us be better shepherds.
Here is a link to the core piece of research cited in this episode.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2017.00188/full
So what did we learn from lambing 2022 - well lots! Mistakes there's been a few but also lots of good things have occurred too.
Have a listen and share your top lambing tip from 2022 on socials!
HVF
thesheepshowpodcast
Meet this wonderful shepherd and my nephew Bryan in this volume 3.1 of The Lambing diaries.
Sheep are a big thing in our family and they always have been and Bryan is carrying on our sheep legacy in his expert tips which he shares with us in episode. Bryan has recently finished high school in Ireland and has been over in Australia for a few weeks. It's been a great experience for us both spending time doing sheep stuff together especially as half of my ewes lambed nice and early!
Let us know what your favourite tip from Bryan is and enjoy this episode!
Possibly one of the most famous butchers in the country Lochie Waters from Uniplaza Meats is very passionate about his work and helps us get a clearer picture of what butchers are looking for in a lamb carcase.
A career as a butcher and an impressive recent win at Meatstock
Lochie started his career in the meat industry in 2013 in country Qld as a wash up boy at the age of 14. Starting the very afternoon his Grandma had been in the shop and was asked by the butcher if she knew anyone suitable for the job. He was there for 12 months and was then offered a school based apprenticeship which he did through to year 12.
Then things became quite tough in rural Qld and the butcher he was working for closed down which led him to move to Toowoomba and complete the apprenticeship with Uniplaza meats in 2018. He then managed the shop for 2 years. In 2020 he purchased the shop at 21 years of age.
Lochie says they’ve built a reputation for supplying high quality products, all sourced within 100km of the shop front door.
What are the benefits for you and other butchers in participating in Butcher Wars and Meatstock?
What do you look for in a carcase of a lamb?
What can you tell about the lamb from their carcase?
What about some butcher terms like blue back, fat cover, eye muscle size, colour, hot carcase weight, on the hooks, shrinkage, trim – what other terms do we as lamb producers need to understand?
What are your thoughts on weighing lambs or condition scoring when selecting a n animal for slaughter? Should producers put their hands on their animals or just focus on weight?
What can/should we be looking for or feeling for when we put our hands on the live animal?
Can you tell different breeds of sheep from their carcases – for example can you tell if the animal is an African breed, a wool breed or a British breed sheep by looking at the carcase?
We seem to be focused on generic lamb in Australia, where as beef is marketed as Angus or Highland – should we as a producers be moving away from generic lamb and marketing specific breeds like Southdowns or Wiltshire Horn?
How come lamb looks so pale when you see it on supermarket shelves?
What about the colour of the lamb fat – should it be white or yellow, should the fat be hard or soft – what do these things tell us about the production environment of the lamb?
What else can you tell about the production environment when you see a carcase hanging in your cool room?
What about the age of despatching – is it different for different breeds?
Should we eat milk fed lamb like they do in Europe? What are the pros and cons of this?
When you buy lamb carcases for your shop what are you looking for – for example uniformity, consistently, breed, age, size?
So I love a good sheep shopping splurge and I thought you might like to join me on a shopping trip! So here is what I have bought recently to prepare for the lambing, lactating and weaning season ahead - Happy shopping!
What is all this short day breeding, estrus, heat stuff all about? What to know how long your ewes cycle for and how different their cycles are from a human's cycle? In this episode we explore what happens when we work with nature to aid in sheep reproduction.
So what mistakes do you need to be aware of when it comes to introducing your sheep to new feed like grain or pellets? We can end up killing our sheep with kindness by introducing too much too soon.
In this episode we explore how to start your sheep on a new feeding regime and even if you need to do this at all. How much to give each type of sheep and what can you do to ensure they transition to a new feed well.
What are the signs of a sheep who has had too much grain and what can you do about it if it happens.
Links and products mentioned:
Berg oil
https://www.iahp.com.au/animal-products/berg-oil
https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/farms-fishing-forestry/agriculture/livestock/animal-welfare/sheep-health/supplementary-feeding/grain
https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/feeding-nutrition/supplementary-feeding-and-feed-budgeting-sheep
Sheep Infrastructure design tips
Sheep yards are the main sheep handling complex on a farm and need to be designed and built to provide efficient sheep handling. Sheep need to move well in the yards and we all want to handle our sheep safely.
Good sheep yards confine and control the movement of sheep. Good yard set up helps us to achieve a high quality work rate with a minimum of physical effort.
This should be done in a pleasant and safe working environment for humans and animals alike!
So where do you start with setting up or improving your sheep yard infrastructure?
Your site selection consider these factors:
• ease of access from all parts of the property including access to power for muscle or pregnancy scanning
• slope of land to assure good drainage
• effect of prevailing winds on working conditions and dust control
• situation of the yards in relation to existing trees which can provide shade and protection
• access to a water supply for livestock drinking, dust control, and cleaning.
Yard size
The main yards should be large enough to handle the biggest mob on the property. Yard size is determined by a combination of the selected design, the capacity of the working race and the size of the flock to be handled. The holding yards should be large enough for mobs of ewes and lambs at weaning. Adjoining mini-paddocks including a water point increase the number of mobs that can be handled in a set of yards.
Provide 1 m2 per three sheep in forcing areas and at least 1 m2 per sheep in holding areas.
Design
When designing sheep yards keep the following points in mind:
• Sheep have wide angled vision – they can detect movement behind them without moving their heads.
• Sheep should have a clear, unobstructed view towards where they are meant to move.
• Whenever possible use wide gates to maintain good sheep flow.
• Ideally sheep should take a familiar route and direction through the yards for all handling operations.
• Entrances to sheds, loading ramp should be placed along the route sheep usually take through the yards.
• Sheep move better on the flat than up or down hill. If the land slopes, the direction of movement should be across the slope rather than up or down hill.
• Sheep can cope well with one change of status at a time –go up a ramp; go onto the flat landing; go through a gate; go around a corner; go into a shed or a truck. Do not try to get sheep to do more than one change of status at a time or they will have trouble and cause a blockage in movement pathways.
• Sheep move readily towards light and avoid dark areas, shadows and dead ends.
• Sheep move willingly around curves and corners into narrow races. Sheep follow one another, and the use of see-through panels may encourage them to move.
• Take sheep behaviour into account when positioning handling facilities – generally sheep will move towards the yards in anticipation of escape or release to their paddock.
• Oncoming sheep must not see the operator. The sheep in the race focus on the sheep in front of them and in the direction of movement without distract
Technology and good biosecurity practices can protect you from big losses when it comes to Ovine Brucellosis. Colin Chapman, Professor and Dorset Downs stud breeder leads us through the best ways to tackle and prevent this mostly hidden from view infection.
What is Ovine Brucellosis?
It’s caused by a bacteria called Brucella Ovus, which is one of several different types of Brucella. “It lives only in sheep, it doesn’t live on the ground or in the water. It spends it’s entire life cycle in sheep, which fortunately makes it easier to control because you don’t have to eradicate it in the environment as well” he explains.
Ovine Brucellosis (OB) quite different to Bovine Brucellosis, which causes the cow to become sick and abort their calf. The cow and calf are both infected with this type of Brucellosis, and it’s also infectious to humans. Bovine Brucellosis has now been eradicated in Australia.
What problems does it cause in sheep?
When Brucellosis is in your flock of sheep you don’t notice it. “The sheep are not unwell What you do notice is that you will have a drop in fertility and the ewes don’t have as many lambs as expected. A reduction in lambing percentage over time could indicate that it is present in your flock”, says Colin.
Colin goes on to explain that on closer inspection you may find that the rams have lumps and bumps in the testicles, but apart from palpating the testicles of the rams there is nothing to see. It is mostly invisible except for the records which show a reduction in lambing percentage.
How does it reduce lambing percentages?
OB reduces fertility in the rams by causing a blockage in the tubules from the testes up to the penis. In the two testicles one side might be blocked but the other side may be open. So a ram can be partially infertile or totally infertile, which you can’t tell by the palpation. Once OB gets into the reproductive tract it stays there. All rams that are sexually active regardless of age are vulnerable.
What about the ewes and wethers?
Colin explains that ewes that are mated with infected rams will possibly have the bacteria present in the vagina and uterus for a brief period of time but normally with no adverse affect. It does not cause any blockage as ewes or wethers don’t have testes. It may cause local inflammation in a ewe but that will pass. The ewe is not a carrier Colin assures. The presence of the bacteria in a ewe will be resolved usually in a day or two. So unless there is more than one ram around the same ewe in a short period of time the bacteria would not be passed from the ewe to another ram. This would be considered an unlikely way for it to be transmitted, it is usually ram to ram transmission through homosexual activity.
OB comes onto a property when someone buys a new ram that is infected and puts it in with their ram flock. Doing this without prior quarantine and testing can infect a whole flock of rams within days or weeks.
Teasers can in theory be at risk or a source of infection, as they still have the testes in tact.
How do I check my flock for Brucellosis?
If you have had a reduction in lambing percentage then the next step would be for your rams to be checked. This involves palpating the testes to feel for lumps and bumps. If there is any on the testes or around the tubes, pea size or bigger, then that would prompt a further investigation. The next step would be to take a blood test which tells us if that ram has ever been exposed to the Brucellis Ovus bacteria, which shows up by the presenc
What are the issues with overweight sheep? Can it cause animal welfare issues, reproduction issues and health issues?
In this episode we explore what happens when sheep get fat, what is the impact for ewes and wethers and what to do about this.
Sheep well!
Meet Jon Hickford a Professor at Lincoln Uni and learn about gene testing in sheep and what benefits it can offer us as sheep breeders.
Smart Shepherding with Science
How technology can help sheep breeders reduce and even almost eradicate devastating diseases in their flock. In this article we talk with Jon Hickford, a Professor at Lincoln University in New Zealand, about gene testing to breed better animals that are naturally resistant and are more productive.
WHY ARE GENES SO IMPORTANT?
The basis of breeding is knowing that something has some degree of heritability says Jon Hickford. Jon is an acclaimed researcher and lecturer in Science and Agriculture with over 30 years of experience. We know that highly heritable traits can be bred for easily and vice versa for low heritability traits. We've now come to a better understand that that's all driven by the genes, by the DNA of an animal, or plant or human. So Jon and his team at Lincoln University in New Zealand aim to understand how DNA affects the performance of livestock, and has a big impact on livestock productivity and performance.
Jon and his team’s research looks for those genes that underpin diseases or other characteristics that can severely diminish the performance of an animal or cause it some sort of health or welfare effect. For some of the diseases of livestock it is a single gene defect. A lot of the research has been done in Australia with Australian stud breeders, focusing on eradicating particular forms of genes that are really quite devastating to the sheep industry.
WHICH DISEASES ARE THESE?
Microphthalmia in Australian and New Zealand Texel sheep - This was a real success story. This disease was a problem for the Texel stud breeders about 15-20 years ago. The condition causes blindness. So the researchers developed a new gene test based on some science done in Germany that allowed breeders to identify their Microphthalmia carrying sheep. And they've been using that tool ever since.
‘We can never be absolutely sure of eradication, but there is an ongoing dialogue about not letting Microphthalmia ever show its head again in Australia and New Zealand’ says Jon. ‘There are still some Texel-cross genetics out there that make us suspicious’, he suggests. It is a risk using unregistered genetics and not tracking pedigree when you’re dealing with a disease like this.
Dermatosparaxis a skin condition in White Dorpers – This disease impacts young lambs, their skin is like tissue paper and if you pick the lamp up the skin just rips. It was rampant within New Zealand and Australia.
This disease is also seen in cows, dogs, humans and cats Jon advises. ‘That gave us a good clue on the genetics. We looked at the gene that was implicated, in all those other species, and it was faulty in sheep, and specifically in white Dorper sheep. So we again, developed a gene test probably 10 years ago now and worked with the Australian and New Zealand Dorper breeders. We put about five years in working with the Dorper Stud Sheep Association of Australia. We probably worked with about 70 of the Dorper studs. I'd like to be able to say we eradicated it, but I suspect it's still there too. There are people that don't follow good breeding practices or don't record and are not associated with the various breeding associations” says Jon.
Gaucher disease in Southdowns – This is a neurodegenerative disease, which is similar to Gaucher disease in humans. Eventually the sheep fall over and die. ‘We found what t
Meet a sheep legend with a passion for legs! Gavin Vale is a veteran with decades of knowledge about sheep. In this episode we get up close and personal with the legs of sheep!
So what are the basics with sheep and their legs? Why are good, structurally correct legs so important in sheep?
With legs are we talking about all four or just the back legs and the front are shoulders?
Let’s explore some language – what is hocky, sickle hock, cow hock, straight legged, bow legged any others?
What is hip placement? How is this related to leg issues?
What about tail set? Is this leg related or relevant to leg structure?
How should a sheep stand when they are still?
How do you decide what sheep to cull – based on leg problems/flaws?
What advice would you have for someone who was buying sheep – what to look for re legs?
What do you look for when you watch a sheep walk?
What is the biggest mistake people make when looking at legs? What might people miss when looking at legs?
So what stops your lambs for growing, simply it is one of three things:
1- Genetics
2- Nutrition and feed
3- Environmental conditions including parasites, weather,stress
How are your lambs growing this season?
This is a challenging one and most of the research on this comes from Australia where they refer to this as a Dry Sheep Equivalent or DSE. This is how many sheep can have have per hectare on your property.
In measuring the energy requirements of livestock, we use a 50 kg wether as the standard. Other areas use a 45 kg wether. A 50 kg wether maintained at constant weight has a dry sheep equivalent (DSE) rating of 1.
There are lots of variables to consider - your soil and pasture, your fertilising program, do you have any other livestock or free loading wildlife and what is the weather doing, as well as what breed of sheep you are running - so many things to consider! Have a listen and let me know if you are any the wiser after this episode!!
https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/budgets/livestock/sheep-gross-margins-october-2015/background/dse
The carnivore diet is not only an incredibly healing way of eating, but also a whole lifestyle that nourishes you, ensuring you maintain that optimal physical health and mental wellness. Eating a biologically appropriate diet adequately fuels both your body and your mind, enabling your body to restore its nutrient capacity. Your body then heals by natural design. Yes, that’s right, it HEALS itself! It just needs YOU to support it.
What do you eat?
A meat-only diet is pretty self-explanatory — you’re going to eat only meat. Nonetheless, like all diets, there are a few gray areas.
In this episode we explore Lynsey's journey to becoming carnivore, what this might mean for the red sheep industry in Australia and what the health benefits a carnivore way of eating and way of life might be.
Contact Lynsey @CarniMumma and via:
https://www.carnivorelifestyleaustralia.com.au/beginners/your-why/health-and-wellness Check out the carnivore friendly products that Lynsey has sourced at https://www.carnivorelifestyleaustralia.com.au/.
Wet weather this spring and summer has certainly created ideal conditions for foot problems in sheep. Nearly continuous exposure to moisture softens the hoof’s horny tissues and makes it more vulnerable to irritation, injury, and infection. Those flocks that are affected by classic virulent foot rot (sometimes called contagious foot rot) have likely seen a surge in the number and severity of cases if they have not been attempting to control or eradicate this potentially devastating disease.
Those flock owners who have experienced milder forms of lameness in their flocks may assume that they don’t have foot rot but have a milder condition called “foot scald” or “scald.” Actually there are really two recognized conditions that are sometimes referred to as “scald.” At first the difference may seem academic, but for some producers, it may be more than that.
Virulent, or contagious, foot rot is caused by a synergistic infection with two organisms, Dichelobacter nodosus (formerly Bacteroides nodosus) and Fusobacterium necrophorum. This last organism is in virtually all sheep environments and sets the stage for infection with the organism necessary for foot rot to occur — Dichelobacter nodosus. This organism produces a powerful proteolytic enzyme that dissolves hoof horn and leads to the undermining of the sole, the severe lameness, the foul smell, and the abnormal hoof growth seen with classic virulent foot rot. About 20 different strains of D. nodosus are believed to occur in the US.
True foot rot does not occur in the absence of D. nodosus. However, a less persistent and generally milder condition in which only inflammation between the toes and a slight under-running of the hoof horn occurs in some flocks. Both D. nodosus and F. necrophorum can be isolated from these cases, but the strains of D. nodosus isolated seem have a reduced virulence or ability to produce disease. This condition is technically referred to as benign foot rot but has also been called foot “scald.” It is believed that the strains of D. nodosus that are involved are weak enzyme producers and are less able to produce the severe damage seen with virulent foot rot.
Another infectious and inflammatory condition which involves only the skin between the claws without significant undermining of the horny tissue has been termed ovine interdigital dermatitis (OID), and it has also been called “scald.” The bacteria associated with this condition are F. necrophorum and Actinomyces pyogenes; both of which tend to be common in typical sheep environments. D. nodosus is not involved. The disease usually only occurs when the weather and other conditions on the farm damage the skin and allow these bacteria to create skin infections. Because the term “scald” has been applied to both OID and benign foot rot, the use of that term can be misleading. Both conditions usually cause only mild or temporary lameness that may be obvious only in wet periods of the year. From a practical standpoint, the two conditions are difficult to distinguish from one another, and laboratory capability to isolate and serotype D. nodusus is generally not readily available. Foot baths and soaks with 10% zinc sulfate usually result in improved healing of either condition. Foot “scald” often disappears when the environmental conditions become dry.
So if the two conditions called “scald” are not easy to differentiate and they both tend to clear up with foot bathing or dry weather, why even bother to make the distinction? There are two reasons that may be important to some producers. The first is that all the strains of D. nodosus, whether they produce virulent or benign foot rot, are maintained in the flock by sheep that harbor the infection in cracks and crevices on their feet — carrier animals. That means that most likely, unless an attempt at eradication is made, benign foot rot will be back again as soon as the weather conditions favorable for foot softening&
Here are some resources for this episode:
https://www.wormx.info/tapeworms
What about tapeworms in sheep? (wormboss.com.au)
Who knew we could influence our lamb taste so much!
Research for this podcast includes:
Foods | Free Full-Text | Odd- and Branched-Chain Fatty Acids in Lamb Meat as Potential Indicators of Fattening Diet Characteristics (mdpi.com)
What does lamb taste like? - Chef's Pencil (chefspencil.com)
This episode was inspired by this great article written by Bill Williams. His original article is below:
Six factors that influence the flavour of lamb before the chef starts work (which you will never know if you buy your lamb from a supermarket!)
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The breed of the sheep. What are you actually eating? Merino, Corriedale, Border Leicester, Suffolk, Dorset, Ryeland, Southdown, Romney? I guess I must mention Dorper and Damara. LIke different grape varieties, sheep varieties produce different tasting and textured meat. I produce Wiltshire because that's the breed that yields the dining experience I personally like best. They may not be the fastest to reach a marketable weight, but the wait's worth it! Another example of slow food.
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The age of the sheep. When was the last time you saw "old ewe" or even mutton labelled at the supermarket? Not that mutton can't be delicious if prepared correctly, but seriously, if you go to a saleyard more than half the sheep sold usually aren't lambs or even hoggets. Where do they go? My theory is that most of them turn into "lamb" when they leave the abattoir.
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Diet. Are they feedlot finished? Or perhaps they've been raised on improved pasture made up of just one or 2 grass varieties in high rainfall or irrigated grazing areas where the native grasses have been wiped out by broad acre round up applications? In my experience lambs raised on a wide variety of native grasses and shrubs like saltbush taste much sweeter with a less fatty taste. Of course what they have been eating also effects how fat they are, too.
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Water. Water quality and availability are extremely important to sheep health. Consider the difference between sheep that have to walk a long way to a muddy dam compared to sheep grazed in close proximity to a flowing stream of fresh clean water. Good water access also enables sheep to browse and digest roughage more easily.
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Animal husbandry. Have the sheep been dogged? Consider the journey from the paddock to the abattoir.....especially for sheep sold through saleyards. Many supermarket lambs end up affected by adrenaline and fear. I don't like to road transport sheep in summer....it's just too hot most days.
6.How long have the carcasses been dry aged before being cut up into kitchen ready cuts? If the carcass is given at least a few days to "set", the muscles relax and the meat matures. Dry aged lamb is much more tender and flavoursome than freshly butchered lamb.
What do you think? We would greatly appreciate any comments about which factors you consider most important in determining lamb quality.
Setting your breed objectives – Simon Thomas
To set your breeding objectives ask yourself the following question and write down your answers:
Question 1: Why breed sheep?
Apart from the usual answers like “I enjoy the challenge” or “sheep chose me” you need some underpinning factors.
My career as a former stock agent and being an experienced breeder has taught me that there are two key driving factors behind breeding livestock 'profit' and 'tradition'. The varying degrees of adopting these factors will influence and drive your program. This could be breeding heritage sheep to maintain a breed type and a stable population or breeding sheep to met market demands for example.
Question 2: Where do you sit on this scale? Is the balance between the factors of profit and tradition right in your breeding operation currently?
Question 3: What is your perfect description of the sheep you want to breed?
My earliest memory of being at a sheep show was being in the viewing tiers at Royal Melbourne Show in the early 1980s watching my father show his Border Leicesters. The wonderful Mrs Peggy Sparrow often sat by my side to watch me. In between the completion of classes Mrs Sparrow would always strike up a conversation with us kids. These conversations normally would revolve around the results of the show floor, but every now and then Mrs Sparrow would give you a 'gem' piece of advice. This question comes from Mrs Sparrow, she went on to say “once you have your perfect description, write it down and then set a plan as to how you are going to achieve it and do it multiple times”.
Why is this question so important?
To write your own sheep description is a very personal thing, no two descriptions will be the same. Each breed has their own standard. These standards are what every breed association set out as the core traits that define their breed. To write down your description take this breed standard further so yours not only meets this standard but it also meets your personal view of the perfect sheep for your operation or market.
Why you are breeding sheep in the first place will impact on the level of depth you delve into when writing your description.
When writing a sheep description plan I use an analogy of choosing a vehicle. When buying a vehicle, that vehicle comes with standards features (these are your breeds core traits). You then have the ability to individualise the standard features to personalise that vehicle to you. For example maybe you would like leather interior, metallic paint (these are your personalised sheep traits). For example, the Southdown breed description states that the feet should be black, my breed description for this standards are feet must be black. Then there are the times where a feature of the breed may not be explicitly stated in a breed description but this could be of significant importance to you, for example nose colour, teat placement, temperament and performance traits like growth rate or fertility.
Question 4: Do you assess and modify your description as required?
It is never to early or late to record a sheep description. Whether you have been breeding sheep for generations or you are still deciding what your first breed of sheep may be, you should regularly assess and modify your description as required. Assess your sheep against your own statement. You may need to modify it and you may need to modify your breeding program to get there. Regularly read your associations breed standards, this can help you to clarify your standards. Associations standards do change so review them regularly.
Today, we have the ability to obtain data and statistics that&
Have you heard of mob breeding? If not this will blow your mind! Join Bjorn Johansson from Norway as he shares the concept, strategy and benefits behind mob breeding in sheep!!
In this episode we explore:
What is mob breeding?
Why does it work? What does it achieve?
What can do wrong when you mob breed?
What are the challenges with mob breeding?
How do you practically select your rams to mate? What do you do to set up breeding?
How come more people don’t breed using mob breeding?
How come we find it so confronting?
Are the results different if you mob breed than if you breed in a more conventional way?
What about things like predators? Should we intervene with nature?
What other interventions do you use in mob breeding – any vaccines or drenches?
What about animal welfare issues if we are mob breeding?
Can you get a balance between mob breeding and breeding seed stock in a stud situation? Is there a hybrid method or approach to mob breeding?
How do you know if mob breeding is working – are there signals or indicators?
What do you monitor and what do you measure?
How long does it take for mob breeding to pay off? Especially as your cull rate might be very high initially and the challenge with getting rid of these animals and not have this negatively impacting your bottom line.
What are the arguments that people give you against mob breeding?
Where can someone start with mob breeding?
Get in touch with Bjorn or learn more via his Facebook page - Mob breeding for Holistic breeding of livestock
Confused about your twist, barrel or tail set?
In this episode we explore the basics of what a structurally sound sheep should look like and why these thing are important in a sheep with sheep breeder and enthusiast Ash Trebilco.
Vaccination
Why vaccinate?
Vaccination is the key to preventing some of the most serious sheep diseases. Vaccination stimulates the body’s defence system to build immunity to a particular disease, by exposing sheep to either the live organism presented in a safe form (e.g. Scabby Mouth vaccine) or to a killed organism (e.g. Blackleg vaccine) or to an inactivated organism (e.g. Johne’s disease vaccine) or to part of an organism (e.g. footrot vaccine, most Clostridia vaccines).
Indeed, without effective vaccines, the control, prevention and management of many diseases in the large vulnerable populations that make up sheep flocks would be virtually impossible. So what vaccines are available, how are they used and what are the diseases that they protect sheep against?
The Clostridia Diseases
The most widely used vaccine in Australia is a vaccine called ‘5 in 1’. It is used to control a group of potentially severe diseases caused by several different species of a bacterium called Clostridium. The important thing to remember with the Clostridia diseases is that they are not something that is caught. The organisms are either in the soil or in the sheep’s bowel. Sheep are therefore exposed to them or already have them in their system virtually all the time. It is only when some trigger compromises the ability of the sheep to resist disease that the sheep become sick. When the sheep become compromised, these bacteria produce potent toxins that cause severe disease and often kill the sheep within hours. There are six diseases that are caused by Clostridium bacteria for which vaccines are available. These are:-
1/Pulpy kidney
Pulpy kidney is caused by a toxin produced by the bacteria Clostridium perfringens type D. The bacteria and the toxins they produce are present in the intestines of normal healthy sheep. The bacteria multiply slowly and are continuously swept out with the droppings so that the number of bacteria and the level of toxins never really build up. However, if there is highly nutritious food in the bowel as occurs if sheep are placed onto lush pastures or fed grain in higher levels than they are used to and the passage along the bowel slows, these bacteria are able to multiply quickly and produce lethal quantities of toxin. The toxin causes extensive damage to blood vessels throughout the body, including those in the kidneys (which makes them “pulpy” as they decompose after death) and also those in the brain. It is damage to the blood vessels in the brain that kills the sheep and is also the reason why they tend to die fairly quickly – often in hours, and also why there is no effective treatment. Essentially, these sheep have multiple “strokes”. The history of feeding lush food and symptoms displayed by the sheep arouse suspicions of this problem and it is confirmed by autopsy examination.
2/Tetanus
Tetanus is caused by a toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium tetani. This bacterium survives in soil as spores wherever livestock are kept. These spores contaminate breaks in the skin such as those that occur with tail docking, grass seed penetration or an injury. Once in the body, if in healthy tissue the spores will sit there harmlessly, sometimes for months. If, however, the tissue is damaged, bruised or dead, the spores germinate, multiply and produce a toxin. The toxin then spreads to the nearest nerves and then to the spine and brain, causing a range of nervous symptoms including muscle spasms and convulsions, which get worse when the animal is disturbed. About 80 % of affected sheep die. Diagnosis is made by the typical symptoms displayed by an affected sheep. If the animal is already dead, an autopsy is done to rule out other diseases with similar symptoms.
3/Black Disease
This disease is caused by Clostridium novy
What is mastitis?
Mastitis, an inflammation of the mammary gland (udder), is one of the most common reasons for culling ewes in sheep flocks. Mastitis is usually due to a bacterial infection but can also have non-infectious causes such as injury. It can occur any time in the production cycle of the ewe but is most common two to four weeks post-lambing. It can prove costly for breeders. In general, it usually occurs in animals raising more than one lamb or with an excessively high rate of milk production.
Some cases occur when sheep are being grazed at too high a stocking rate, though the vast majority of all mastitis cases in sheep occur within a few weeks of lambing or just as weaning is due to start The infection occurs when bacteria make their way into the udder of the ewe. It is most common in breeds that produce multiple offspring per lambing.
Forms of the disease
There are two main types of mastitis in sheep. Mastitis can be classified as clinical and subclinical.
Subclinical mastitis is a difficult one to identify and ewes tend to only show low growth rates when affected. Poor weather and a lack of adequate nutrition can cause subclinical mastitis to develop into clinical mastitis. Subclinical mastitis can also cause the death of twin lambs.
Clinical mastitis refers to an infection that becomes obvious clinically. Mastitis can rapidly progress, eventually turning parts of the udder black, if the infection becomes severe enough to compromise the blood supply to the udder. Ewes usually appear lame and weak, with lambs also lethargic and depressed. Lambs can die because of a lack of milk when ewes have clinical mastitis and they can die from the infection gained from digesting the infected milk. Euthanasia may be considered in severely affected animals but best to consult your vet for advice.
Picture shows clinical mastitis.
When treating mastitis, early detection is key and can prevent further spreading of the infection. Your Vet may provide you with an antibiotic and painkiller for your animal. or may make other treatment suggestions. Some cases of mastitis are due to yeast or fungi and giving these animals antibiotics makes them worse. It is important to get a diagnosis and treat appropriately. It is a good idea to mark all ewes once treatment occurs, so they can be identified for possible culling at weaning.
What causes it?
The primary cause of mastitis in cattle, goats and sheep are well-recognized groups of microorganisms, Streptococcus sp., Staphylococcus sp., Pasteurella sp. and coliforms, Escherichia coli, Enterobacter sp., and Klebsiella sp. Yeast and fungus have also been found frequently infecting the udder, but usually go unnoticed because they produce a mild or subclinical mastitis.
Picture shows severe mastitis resulted in an erupted udder
How to treat it?
Disinfect the teat end with chlorhexidine or iodine-based disinfectants and infuse a tube of mastitis antibiotic through the teat canal if the cause of the mastitis is a bacterial infection. If the problem is a bacterial infection the ewe can be give an injection of an antibiotic and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug as directed by your vet.
The udders of ewes should be examined physically for hard lumps after weaning and before breeding. Ewes with ‘lumpy bags’ may be considered for culling. The milk supply of these ewes will be decreased, and the amount of decrease will depend upon the amount of tissue damaged.
How to prevent it?
A strong immune system is the key to preventing mastitis and similar infections. Injectable trace mineral supplement products such as Multimin can help during times of stress such as lambing and weaning.
A good management
So what is fly strike, what causes it and how can it be prevented and what do we do to treat it? Join Vet Dr Tim Gole from For Flock Sake (www.forflocksake.,com.au), a sheep consulting business as we explore the parasite paradise that fly strike is.
Contact Tim:
@for flock sake
www.forflocksake.com.au
Transcript:
Parasite Paradise for flies
It's perfect. Welcome, everyone. In this episode of the sheep show podcast, I bring you someone very special. And you know, very funny too, I think because this is Tim and his businesses called For Flock Sake. I mean, how funny can that be? Hi, Tim, welcome to the Sheep show podcast.. So, Tim, you're a vet, you're a sheep vet that you really specialize in our topic as well. And you're running a sheep consulting services business, you just told me just turn once Happy Birthday to For Flock Sake, thank you. Just give them give the listeners a little bit of an idea about you your background and how you come to set up a business like this.
00:48
A great deal. So my background, I've been vet for about 14 years, worked in so Central West New South Wales, and then did did the stint in the UK, which I really, really loved came back and I just love being a vet. So bought a practice with a friend. And then it just kind of went a bit crazy, we bought one and then we built another one up the road. And then we got involved in the northern cattle industry. And we did a bit of fly in fly out bet stuff out to the you know, the real big kind of wild west stuff. And it's really interesting. So we had this really awesome team and I was looking around going, I'm in a massive shape area, but I actually wasn't adding a lot of value to my shaped clients. And that's when we started providing a pregnancy Testing Service. And then it was just the start, there's so many things you can do with shape that maybe you can't do with catalog, there's not, you know, 100 pregnant cows, you can't get any more than 100 calves, but cheaper, so much different you can, there's so many more little levers you can pull to get, you know, get better, we'll get better lamps. So that's how I started and then so I got an opportunity to sell my business. And some shape work. And I thought this is this is my time. And so I thought it was funny calling up for flux. And that was part of really because we'd come out of a three horrific three year drought. And it kind of felt it was a bit locked for flux, like, you know, you know, winds, the winds are gonna rain, but also, I just thought, I suppose, you know, trying to be a little bit funny, you know, you get a positive reaction and get it. And when we got positive mindsets, we were much more open to different ideas and different ways of doing things. So that's that lead in with flux sake. It's been a great, great journey one year. So it's been great.
Jill Noble 02:38
I really love that. And I think I think you you're aware of the numbnuts product as well, I can guess, are you using it? And again, it's sort of, you know, being kind of on that sort of funny journalistic, I think it's something we need to have in our industry lighten things up a little bit, you know, and be a bit more real and a bit more vulnerable. And I think that's really, really good. I love it. I really love it. Great job. Really? And um, I mean, when you were studying 14 years ago, and you're studying veterinary medicine, did you? Did you sort of think, did you start to do like sheep, then did you think that you would specialize the sheep? Because Because it's quite rare that we have a vet specializing and specializing in shape. Yeah,
03:24
I've always like shape joy. I went to body school and had spent a lot of my holidays with me to add sheep farms and in shearing sheds always kind of like the shape thing, but I suppose and this is suppose the thing for the Australian sheep industry,
What to know why we tag, when to tag and when not to tag sheep - tune in to this episode to get all the info you need on tagging sheep!
Do you breed sheep that shed their wool or hair? Want to get better shedability in your flock? In this episode we shed light on shedding sheep and help you make better choices for your easy care flock of shedders!
They've done the hard work up until now so what can we shepherds to to help keep our ewes in optimum health post-lambing.
Scabby mouth or Orf in humans is a huge issue especially with lambs so what is it, where does it come from and what can we actually do about it?
Bloat in bottle fed lambs is one of the most horrible things I have had to deal with in my shepherding experience. You have a really close relationship with animals that you bottle raise and losing them suddenly is heart breaking for us but imagine the pain the poor lamb must be in with bloat. So in this episode I am so grateful to Sez the Vet for helping us learn about preventing bloat in bottle fed lambs.
A few clarifications to the content in this episode:
- Sarcina Ventriculi is not covered in the clostridial vaccines
- the Lactobacillus Acidophilus bacteria doesn't produce gas itself, it's another species that is often in the Acidophilus yogurt
We explore:
· What causes this?
· How come it is generally bottle fed animals that get this?
· What can we do to prevent it?
· What can we do if it happens?
· Are there any tell tale signs to see if you bottle fed lamb is likely to get bloat?
· What about the bicarb solution? Does this work?
Contact Sez at:
https://www.facebook.com/SeztheVet/
Subscribe and give a thumbs up to Sez on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/c/SeztheVet
Another action packed lambing diaries episode with all the challenges of lambing laid bare!
Welcome to season 3! Here is the first installment of the lambing diaries for 2021! Happy lambing!
So what is rumen acidosis? What causes it? What are the signs and what can you you do about it. Enjoy this last episode of season 2!
What is acidosis?
Grain overload (acidosis, grain poisoning) occurs when cattle, sheep or goats eat large amounts of grain. The grain releases carbohydrate into the animal's rumen and this rapidly ferments rather than being digested normally. Bacteria in the rumen produce lactic acid, resulting in acidosis, slowing of the gut, dehydration and often death.
What causes it?
Wheat and barley are the most common causes of grain overload, but it occasionally occurs with oats and lupins. Crushing or cracking of grain by a hammermill increases the likelihood of grain overload, because these processes result in quicker release of carbohydrates.
Cases are often seen when:
- stock are suddenly grain fed without being gradually introduced to the grain or pellets
- there is a sudden change in feeding regimen or in the grains being fed
- stock graze newly harvested paddocks (where there may be spilled grain or unharvested areas)
- stock get unplanned access to grain or pellets, such as around silos.
How can I prevent acidosis?
Acidosis can be prevented by gradually introducing animals to grain or pellets. The amount of grain and the time taken to adapt sheep to grain depends on:
- availability of hay and other feed
- type of grain being fed
- aims of feeding (such as for weaners for sale or for lactating ewes).
Some useful guidelines for preventing acidosis in stock are:
- Use oats and lupins in preference to, or before transitioning to, wheat or barley.
- During the introduction phase, feed grain daily.
- Introduce oats to sheep by starting with 50 grams on the first day, followed by increases of 50g per head per day until the required ration is reached.
- Ensure sheep always have access to roughage as well as fed grain.
- Introduce oats to cattle by starting with 500g per head per day, followed by increases of 500g per head every fourth day until the required ration is reached.
- Monitor your herd or flock for signs of scouring, depression, lethargy and lameness, which will indicate that the amount of grain being fed is being increased too fast.
- Check pulpy kidney vaccinations are up to date and vaccinate if necessary before grain feeding.
So what paddock do I lamb in? What do I need to consider when I'm lambing in a paddock? In this episode we explore the options and factors we need to consider.
How wonderful the concept of 4H is! Join me as we meet a group of 4H kids and their leaders from Ontario Canada. Their questions just blew me away - I loved meeting them all!
Learn more about 4H here:
https://4-h.org/
Happy Listening!
So much is said about sheep and minerals but what really matters most? In this episode Stefanie Hildmann from https://stefaniehildmann.com/ helps us to get a handle on the most important things and what we can do to help our sheep be as naturally healthy as possible.
In this episode we explore:
The difference between vitamins and minerals and macro and micro minerals?
What three mineral deficiencies do your customers frequently ask you about when it comes to sheep?
Pat Coleby’s work on sheep and minerals for sheep
What do each of the lose lick minerals help with?
How might you identify a mineral deficiency in sheep?
Tell me about the relationship between lime/calcium and dolomite?
What about salt and sheep? How much do they need and do they need it all year round?
What mineral do you need to be careful with when it comes to sheep?
Is there a difference in the quantity of minerals needed for wool sheep, or young sheep or pregnant and lactating sheep?
What is the best way to administer products to sheep? Drench, licks, on the pasture?
Can you give a sheep too much kelp – either min-kel or the seaweed meal? What about the cod liver oil?
Can your sheep help to spread these minerals across your farm through their urine etc?
We are approaching lambing or the final stages of gestation with our sheep? What do you recommend to help with ease of lambing? \
What recipes (with minerals) are you aware of/do you use with sheep when an issue arises?
Check out Stefanie's work and contact her directly for an on-farm consult at:
https://stefaniehildmann.com/
Enjoy this chat with Gary and I as we explore who our mentors are, what to expect from a mentor, how to find them and how to get the best from a relationship with your mentor.
Some of the mentors mentioned include:
Gabe Brown
Greg Judy
Joel Salatin
Pay Colby
William Albecht
Gerhard Grasser
Jason O'Loghlin
Gavin Wall
Check them out online via YouTube or Facebook.
Show Gary some love at Hallston Valley Farm on Facebook, Instagram or via jill@hallstonvalleyfarm.com.au and I will make sure he gets your email!
Lambing is the most important time of the shepherd's year. The sheep's, too. So, it's important to be prepared. Preparations include managing and feeding the sheep properly, getting the lambing facilities ready, and gathering necessary supplies.
Preparing the Ewes
Feeding and management during late gestation can determine success of the lambing season and sheep enterprise. While random problems occur, most problems can be prevented and result from improper feeding and management, especially during the last third of pregnancy.
What's Happening During Late Gestation?
Approximately 70 percent of foetal growth occurs during the last 4 to 6 weeks of pregnancy. Most of the ewe's mammary (udder) growth is occurring during this period. In addition, her rumen capacity is decreasing. The primary result is the need for increased feed, primarily a more nutrient-dense diet.
Extra nutrition is needed to support foetal growth, especially if there are multiple foetuses involved. Extra feed is needed to support mammary development and ensure a plentiful milk supply. The quantity and quality of colostrum is affected by nutrition. Extra nutrition will prevent the occurrence of pregnancy toxaemia (ketosis). It will ensure the birth of strong, healthy lambs that aren't too big and aren't too small. Birth weight is highly correlated to lamb survival. There is usually a quadratic relationship between birth weight and lamb survival.
Nutrition During Late Gestation
During late gestation, energy (TDN) is the nutrient most likely to be deficient. The level of nutrients required will depend upon the age and weight of the ewe and her expected level of production, i.e. singles, twins, or triplets.
To meet the increased energy needs during this period, it is usually necessary to feed concentrates (grain). In addition, if forage quality is low, it may be necessary to provide a supplemental source of protein and calcium.
Examples of late gestation feed rations
| Forage | Grain
| 3.5 to 4 lbs. of medium to good quality hay | 1.25 to 1.5 lbs. of concentrate
| 4 to 5 lbs. of medium quality hay or pasture equivalent | 0.5 to 1 lb. of concentrate
| Limit the roughage intake of ewe lambs and mature females carrying 3 or more foetuses | 1 lb. of grain per foetus
It is important not to under- or overfeed ewes during late gestation. There are consequences to both. Inadequate nutrition may result in pregnancy toxaemia, small and weak lambs, higher lamb mortality, reduced quality and quantity of colostrum, poor milk yield, and reduced wool production (in the offspring) via fewer secondary follicles.
Fat ewes are more prone to pregnancy toxaemia. They experience more dystocia (birthing difficulties). Overfeeding can result in oversized fetuses that the female cannot deliver on her own. It costs extra money to make ewes fat.
Feed Management
In addition to feeding the right ration, you must also practice good feed bunk management. All ewes should be able to eat at once. If there is inadequate feeder space, some ewes, especially the small, young, old, and timid ones, may not get enough to eat.
Pregnant ewe lambs should be fed separately from mature ewes. Their nutritional requirements are higher than mature ewes because in addition to being pregnant, they are still growing. They may also have trouble competing for feeder space.
Pregnant ewes should generally not be fed on the ground. This is one way that abortions are spread. An exception might be feeding on frozen ground.
Selenium and Vitamin E
Selenium and vitamin E are critical nutrients during late gestation. Low levels of selenium (Se) and/or vitamin
Join Simon Makeham from North South Border Leicester Stud, a veteran sheep showing expert in this celebratory 50th episode of The Sheep Show Podcast! Simon shares some of the secrets to showing sheep, how to prepare your sheep and some ring craft tips for us to consider.
In this episode we explore:
What is the reason for the North South business continuing to show sheep after all these years and your many successes?
What do you enjoy about showing sheep and attending shows?
What do you think is the cost of getting sheep ready for a show? Is it worth it?
What are the benefits of showing sheep?
What approach do you take to show prep – lets start with preparing your sheep?
How far out from a show to you start to prepare your sheep?
Many people you speak to at shows say stuff like ‘Oh I just took them out of the paddock like this’ – what are your thoughts on this? How realistic is it to expect a sheep to be show ready in a paddock?
I know I feed my sheep prior to shows, what do you think is the best thing to feed sheep to prepare them for showing – how early do you start? What about feeding them molasses?
What other supplements would you suggest (if any)?
What are your tips on halter training? What works and what doesn’t?
How do you decide what sheep to include in your group classes?
What do you have in your show kit to help you do the final prep with your sheep on show day?
What are your best tips for etiquette in the ring?
How important do you think the scanning figures are when showing sheep at a major show?
What advice would you have for someone starting out in showing sheep?
What do you look for when you are judging sheep in a show ring?
What is the biggest mistake people make when showing sheep?
If you plan on showing your sheep then teaching your sheep to lead will be very helpful. Start off by purchasing a good quality Halter and lead rope, we use the following Halter which can be purchased online from The Farm Store. This halter is great as it can be adjusted both behind the poll and over the nose.
| www.thefarmstore.com.au Bainbridge halter for sheep and goats $26.95 Product Code: A2131
For a lead rope try and get one that will not stretch too much, The cotton ones tend to stretch a bit and make it hard to undo when you have the sheep tied up. We use a Marine/Yacht rope.
Once you get a halter on them, tie them to a solid post or rail, Making sure to use a quick release knot and walk away to let them figure out for themselves about pressure and release on their own. Most sheep will catch on quick. Make sure you stay within sight just in case they get into trouble getting hung up or flipped over. Find something else to do, close to them and every now and then walk around them to get them used to activity.
When left tied, they will pull for a while. After a bit, they get tired, they take a step forward and discover they get relief from the pressure.
Once they have been tied for 10 mins untie them and start by firmly putting pressure on the rope till they take a step forward, remembering to let them feel the release of pressure when they take a step. Keep repeating this
until you can get a few steps forward from them, Every time they take a step back make sure you ask them to take a step forward to where you asked them to stand. I find that standing slightly to the side and not directly looking at them helps as it gives them somewhere to go and they don’t feel as pressured with someone eyeballing their every move.
The next step is to be able to stand beside them as you would in a show ring, Step towards their shoulder holding the lead firm so they can’t run away, they will run around you in circles to start with so just keep taking one step towards the shoulder until they stand, When they stand release the pressure on the lead, step away and keep the lead slack so they can rest, if you notice your sheep starting to lick their lips or chew a bit this is a good sign and usually means they are thinking about what you are asking them.
After you can stand beside them at the shoulder you can start touching them as a judge would. Start by grabbing the halter where the nose and cheek strap meet and holding their head slightly tilted towards you so you have control and they can’t run away or over top of you. Then using firm touch place your free hand either on the top of the shoulder and pat or feel your way down their back, keep repeating this until they stand still as you do it.
When letting your sheep go always get them to stand still before taking the lead off so they don’t learn to run as soon as you reach for the clip.
Doing this daily or twice daily in short lessons over a few weeks should have them quiet and leading well. If you are hard feeding them try and leave the feeding till after the lesson as a reward.
For those new to showing or those who are thinking of showing in the new future I've put together my top dos and don'ts many of which I have learned the hard way!
Let's start with the positives!
Do
· come ready to learn, meet new friends collaborate and ask questions. Being part of a show is very collegiate. We all help where we can, sharing advice and resources that we have in our show box. I had a few scouring rams and Darren stepped in recently with a great remedy mentioned below.
· attend to the food and water for your sheep before the public arrive each morning
· clean each pen and replenish the straw at least once a day
· hold your sheep close to their face when you are standing with them so you have as much control as possible
· watch the judges at all times and turn to face the judge if they are walking behind you
· congratulation your fellow breeder including shaking their hand if appropriate
· thank the judge including shaking their hand if appropriate
· get your sheep used to the food you will be giving them at the show, grain will need weeks for the rumen to adjust
· have all your paperwork in order, you OB cert, your sheep health declaration and your NVD for inspection
· attend to your sheep's feet at least a week before the show. The better and shorter the hoof is the better your sheep will stand and look.
· do a full health check of your sheep before they leave your property, are their eyes clear, are their feet all clean and healthy, are their gums nice and pink, is your animal free from any signs of inflammation.
· scrub your sheep's horns - they come up a treat!
wash your halter before the show or have a set for showing and another for halter training
· get your sheep out to walk around if you notice they are not themselves, ideally do this before the public arrive.
· if you are someone else's sheep is being stubborn use 'gooseing' which is where you grab their tail area to encourage them to move forward
· be ready to help with general set up and take down like the association banners, displays and flags
· manage your bio-security when you return to your farm, drench your sheep and quarantine them for 5 days if you can after an event
· be ready to help other's unload and load their animals, this includes other breeders
· The general etiquette here is that those who have a longer distance to travel go first.
· get to know your breed captain and check with them if you have any questions or doubts.
To bring in your show kit:
· pins for your scan data cards
· a marker
· cordial or apple cider vinegar to mask the chlorine in the water
· halters and lead ropes, you will need one halter and one lead rope for each animal
· D scour horse paste or berg oil for tummy upsets in animals
· rags to wipe noses and clean your sheep
-a curry comb or similar to brush your animals. Kristy was raving about a pet mit kit recently! The options are endless here so find whatever works best for you.
· a small bucket for hot water
· pet shampoo for dirty bums or similar
· a scrubbing brush
· one feed containe
So what are the different cuts of lamb?
· There are nine basic or primal cuts from different parts of the lamb.
· Each of these Primal cuts can be cut up different ways.
· For example, the loin primal cut can be made into
o Individual cutlets or
o French rack or
o Barbeque rack or
o Backstraps
· You can select either of these options but only one of them because they all come from the same part of the lamb.
· A good butcher can be very creative and can accommodate many special requests such as taking the bones out of the legs or making rolled roasts or sausages. Some of these options cost extra as there is more work involved.
Sausages
Sausages are a signature specialty for many butchers and we’ve had people who say they usually don’t like lamb, try our sausages and come back for more! You can have any part of the lamb made into sausages and you can request different flavours such as lamb and mint etc.
A common choice for sausage lovers is to order the cutlets and leg roasts and then have the rest of the lamb made into sausages. It’s completely up to you, just let us know. We often have lamb sausages and lamb mince available from other animals so we can often top up your order with these if you like.
1. LEG
Like the two shoulders, the two legs on a lamb work hard, which means that this cut has a good, strong flavour. A leg of lamb is great roasted whole on the bone, or boned and barbecued. It’s a fairly lean muscle, so take care not to overcook it.
2. RUMP
The rump comes from the back of the lamb. This cut is lean, tender and full of flavour – just be careful not to overcook as it will become tough if left to dry out.
3,4. LOIN CHOP
These are mini T-bone steaks cut from the waist of the lamb. On one side of the chop is the lamb loin and on the other side is the fillet. Just like chops, they’re great for grilling or barbecuing. Again these cuts can be cooked in the slow cooker or pressure cooker where the fat adds great flavour to the dish! If this cut of meat is left whole and boned you get the eye of shortloin, fillet or backstrap. Choose whatever cut is your favourite!
5. CHOP/RACK
Lamb chops or cutlets are the most expensive cuts of lamb, but are incredibly delicious and tender. They are taken from the ribs of the lamb and cooked individually, normally over a grill or a barbecue. When a number of them are left together and cooked as a whole, they’re called a rack of lamb. The backstrap comes from the same area, it is the meat that run through the rack. Chops and cutlets are often barbequed, grilled or fried, however chops are also great in curries and in any slow cooking recipe.
6. SHOULDER/FOREQUARTER
This part of the animal works hard, so the meat from a lamb’s shoulder is full of flavour. It takes a while to become tender, but this means it’s a great choice for stewing and slow-roasting. To maximise the flavour, cook lamb shoulder on the bone so the meat simply falls apart when pulled with a fork. The shoulder is often cut into chops and braising or stew works well if you are cooking shoulder chops.
7. SHANK
Lamb shank is a super-simple and very tasty cut that goes a long way. Taken from the lower part of the back legs, there is a lot of collagen in the shank, which, when cooked slowly, gives the meat a lovely soft, melting texture, making this another cut that’s perfect for stews and slow-cooking.
8. NECK
Lamb neck can be cooked slowly on a low heat, it can also be treated like a steak and cooked quickly over a high heat until pink. Sometimes the neck is left on the shoulde
Condition scoring sheep is an easy and accurate method of estimating the condition or 'nutritional well-being' of your sheep flock. It is particularly useful for monitoring pregnant and lactating ewes. It requires you to assess the amount of tissue and fat covering the backbone and the short ribs of each sheep. Each assessment should only take a matter of seconds, and condition scoring enough sheep to get an assessment of the mob will only take 20 minutes or so and can be done while sheep are in for other husbandry activities.
Condition scoring a mob twice over a month can give a reliable indication of weight loss or gain. This is useful, particularly in the lead up to mating, as condition at mating can have a significant impact on lambing percentage. Condition scoring during the dry period will give much more accurate information on how the flock is travelling compared with pasture assessment, as pasture quantity and quality are difficult to assess at this time.
Condition scoring is often more useful than live weight in that it:
- Doesn't rely on a weigh crate being set up - can be done anywhere a sheep can be yarded
- Can be done without having to correct for wool growth or the influence of wet wool on live weight
- Needs no correction for weight of the foetus in pregnant ewes or the weight of fluid during lactation
- Can be used on a mob of sheep with different frame sizes
How to Condition Score
The animal should be standing in a relaxed position. It should not be tense, crushed by other animals or held in a crush. If the animal is tense it is not possible to feel the short ribs and get an accurate condition score. Place your thumb on the backbone just behind the last long rib and your fingers against the stubby ends of the short ribs. Use the scoring system described below to assign a score. Many people use a system of half scores such as 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5 etc.
Randomly draft 25 sheep into a race or choose a random group from the middle of the mob. Many people choose a couple of animals from each race full when drenching or doing some other animal husbandry task. Be sure to record the scores so that you can calculate the average.
This not only gives you a middle point but also shows the range of scores and whether there is a significant tail in the mob.
Happy Birthday to The Sheep Show Podcast - we turn one this week! Thank you for being good sheep and following loyally and staying tuned for 12 whole months!
Enjoy this episode with Amanda and Scott from Tillara Park Suffolks in NSW, @tillaraparksuffolks as they share their inspirational story of participating in 30 shows over 2020.
Stay tuned for more episodes on showing sheep over the next few months!
Line breeding is a fascinating topic which can offer some amazing results but as we will learn it comes with potential consequences which are not for the faint-hearted. Enjoy this extra long episode!
In this episode with Jason we explore:
What is line breeding?
Why do it?
Why does it work? What does it achieve?
What can do wrong when you line breed?
How can you learn to line breed? How did you learn to do it so well?
What lines can/should we use? – Cousins? Grandparents/grandlambs??
What lines should we not use?
Are the results different if you line breed with the maternal or paternal lines?
How to do analyse the lines to know what will work with what? What are you looking for or aiming for?
How to do you keep a record of the pedigrees?
What happens if you line breed too close? In-breeding issues? What are the risks?
How do you know if your line is too close – are there rules?
Why don’t more people/breeders do it?
Are there calculators you can use to help you make line breeding decisions?
When you have ram customers ask for a new blood line or choose a different line that yours? What do you say to them?
When you have a customer buy a starter flock, they often ask for an unrelated male – are they misinformed here?
What are the argument for an against line breeding? Advantages and disadvantages
Contact Jason via Facebook @O'Loghlin Wiltshire Horn Stud
Why do sheep suffer from internal parasites so much?
What different types of sheep worms exists?
What do the different worms do? How do you spot them?
What are your options when managing worms in sheep?
Ever though about milking sheep? Join Becca from Hidden Hollow Idaho to learn about raising dairy sheep, milking sheep and making sheep cheese!! Yum!
In this episode we explore:
What breed of sheep is good for milking?
Why have a sheep dairy? What are the benefits and key dairy products that are in demand?
Where do you start if you wanted to breed and milk dairy sheep?
What are the sheep health challenges when breeding and milking sheep?
How different is it to dairy cows? Do you take the lambs of the sheep? How do you raise the lambs if you do? How long to the sheep milk for? Can they get pregnant when they are still lactating? How do you keep condition on the ewe? What do you need to feed them? How long does a dairy ewe live/breed for? Do you use a different breed ram if so what breed do you use?
What is the process like for the actual milking?
What infrastructure do you need for a sheep dairy ?
What are the local regulations or compliance requirements?
What happens the milk to make it into cheese or pasteurize the milk?
What quantity of sheep do you have to milk to make it a viable commercial business?
What is your route to market? How might you market your milk and cheese? Where do you sell to/or plan to sell to?
What advice would you have for someone interested in setting up a sheep dairy?
Doug Deppeler from Deppeler Suffolks Derrinallum, Victoria, has been breeding sheep for 50 years. His sheep are highly regarded in the industry. He has won interbreed champions at several major shows and won a prestigious prize in 2020 with champion lamb at the Rona Show! In this episode Doug shares the secrets to his breeding success!
Doug and I explore the following:
Why should we focus on quality breeding? What does it do for a sheep enterprise and the industry at large?
What are the benefits of breeding sheep with good attributes? What does mean for food and fibre production?
How do you determine your breed objectives?
Can you explain selection differential to us?
How do you select a good sire when it is a ram lamb?
How do you breed for certain characteristics for example hindquarter, what might you use to make that breeding decision?
What do you decide on first, genotype or phenotype when you are making breeding decisions?
How do you select elite ewes? How early can you select them?
What makes the biggest difference in a breeding enterprise?
What about line breeding? What is it to you? What do you think works/what works for you, what doesn’t?
What is structural correctness and why is this important when breeding sheep?
What are the challenges with breeding and culling on structural correctness?
How to measure balance in a sheep?
Judging a quality sheep in an objective way
Using natural supplements for your sheep
How to boost growth rate in your sheep with minimum inputs?
Should I join my young ewes? How can increase my lambing percentages? How do I manage my joining better to get better results. What are the pros and cons of joining maiden ewes? What percentage of rams should I use with my ewes? We explore all things joining in this episode - Happy joining!
What is the weirdest thing you have ever come across in your flock? I feel like I've had my fair share in my five years breeding sheep!
In this episode we explore all things weird and wonderful in creatures woolly and meaty!
I'd love to hear your weird and wonderful experiences - email me at jill@hallstonvalleyfarm.com.au or post it on the Hallston Valley Farm Facebook feed so we can share the weird!
You've got your sheep farm ticking along so now what? How do you market our stock, wool, meat, dairy or even any sheep related products so that sales just happen! Take more control back and build a brand presence for yourself and all of your wonderful sheep!
Meredith Paige (www.meredithpaige.me) generously shares her top tips to get your 2021 off to a great strategic sheep start!
In this episode we explore:
What is the difference between sales, marketing and advertising?
Should a sheep enterprise have a marketing plan? What would that look like?
What about features and benefits? Is this still important?
Where would you start with marketing a sheep enterprise?
What is the biggest mistake people make when marketing?
What about having a website presence? Is this necessary nowadays with social media?
What are the secrets to using social media effectively for something like a sheep enterprise?
How frequently should you post on social media? Can you do too much?
Some people I know say that advertising is a waste of money? What are your thoughts on print and digital advertising for small business?
Tell me about the power of email marketing? It seems like such an old-fashioned way of marketing but it does actually work! Where would a sheep breeder start with email marketing?
Some stud sheep breeders sell embryos and semen overseas – how would a sheep breeder start marketing to targeted overseas audience?
How might you market to a very traditional audience? These might be people who have always bought their sheep through sale yards and they aren’t all that digitally connected?
There are peak times that sheep breeders advertise/market their products (stud rams in particular about 3-6 months before breeding season), should their marketing efforts be focused on one event like an on farm sale or should marketing be more consistent throughout the year?
Contact Meredith via:
https://www.meredithpaige.me/
Get Meredith's freebie roadmap at:
https://www.meredithpaige.me/free-resources/small-biz-marketing-roadmap
Meet VIB (Very Important Brother)! In this episode we meet my brother, Andrew, and explore cross breeding sheep in Ireland, the convenient way. Andrew has worked out a way to farm his 160 ewes outdoor all year around in Ireland, something very unusual in Ireland and the UK.
In this episode we explore:
What is the biggest challenge with breeding sheep in Ireland?
What are the trends in sheep farming in Ireland?
How come Irish sheep farmers love cross breed sheep, what are the benefits?
What prices you are getting for lamb in Ireland?
What diseases impact sheep in Ireland and how do you treat them?
What growth rate do you get with CB sheep?
When do you sell sheep and how do you choose when to sell?
Why do you farm sheep and cattle? Why not just cattle?
What advice would you have for someone starting out in sheep?
What do you look for when you are buying sheep?
In this episode we cover:
What can we tell from sheep teeth?
How can we use this information to make decisions about your sheep?
What does a sheep’s mouth look like?
What do lamb’s teeth look like and how and when do they grow?
What breeds cut teeth earlier than others?
How can environmental conditions change and impact teeth growth and teeth wear?
All the lingo to know about sheep teeth – pad, full mouth, broken mouth, gummy mouth, two tooth, four tooth, feed mouth and over shot and under shot!
When to cull based on teeth or mouth issues?
What will make you a successful sheep farmer? What business skills do you have and what ones do you need to develop further? In this episode we explore the five key business skills you need for sheep farming success!
Five business skills for farming success
1. Lifelong learning - tips
• Attend expos and seminars/webinars
• Get a mentor – business and farming
• Join an association for your farming passion
• Build a relationship with your local VET before you need them!
• Ask questions
• Read
2. Strategic planning – tips
• WHAT - Have a clear objective – what are your aiming to achieve in your farming enterprise?
• WHY- Be clear on your vision and mission – why are you in this business?
• WHO- low cost - standard products and services to broad markets at the lowest competitive prices or differentiated – tailored solutions for specific customers, high levels of service and strong relationships.
• HOW- Think about what the farming of tomorrow will be
3. Finance – tips
• Project a professional approach
• Use a tax compliant invoice template
• Save time by using technology
• Record your stock numbers at the end of the tax year – sold, deceased, owned
• Get a trusted accountant
• Think about registering for GST
4. Marketing & Selling- tips
• Know your audience and help to educate them
• Communicate the benefits, use the heart to sell
• Value add your product or farming service
• Build your brand or presence
• Use a variety of marketing approaches
• Use cute for clicks
• Play to your strengths – if you can write, speak, take photos, volunteer …
5. Technology- tips
• Make it easy to do your accounting – how much is your time worth?
• Get a professional email address – jill@hallstonvalleyfarm.com.au
• YouTube is the second most used search engine – video it!
• Use a database or excel for your stock records
• Use apps, Facebook groups/online forums
Useful websites and apps
• https://wiltshirehornaustralia.com.au/
• https://www.mla.com.au/
• https://www.nlis.com.au/
• https://www.zoetis.com.au/livestock-solutions/sheep/index.aspx
•
So what traits are the traits that will take our sheep into the future? What ones will help us breed animals that have true commercial value in the red meat industry? What are the traits that we need to focus on and what can we do to improve them in our flock?
Obviously we are always making decisions on phenotype/breed standard and structural correctness – things like pasterns, shoulders, back, feet, teeth, testicles, temperament, horn set, pigment, shedding ability and general visual appeal. The question is where do we go after that structural/visual assessment?
These traits are growth rate, muscle/ carcass characteristics, reproductive traits, fecundity and mothering ability. In this episode we focus on growth rates and how to increase the growth rates in our sheep.
We've never advertised our sheep for sale. Why not? Because smart selling is about building a reputation and creating a market for your sheep. In this episode we explore the pros and cons for each selling option that we have for sheep, including lambs, ewes and rams.
Let me know what option works for you and why!
This time of year we all need to make some tough decisions on culling sheep. So how do you know what to cull, what can help you to make confident decisions which will help the future of your flock.
In this episode we explore at what to look for when culling ewes and lambs as well as rams.
Happy culling!
Welcome to season 2 of The Sheep Show Podcast!
In this episode on weaning we explore the following:
- Why we wean?
-What exactly is weaning lambs?
-When to wean?
- How to wean?
- Issues/concerns and pros and cons of early and late weaning.
We also explore a hybrid method of weaning!
Enjoy this first episode of season 2!
Meet Eve Girdwood, another amazing young sheeppreneur! Eve is in year 12 at Notre Dam College in Shepperton (Victoria). Fof her year 12 Design & Technology project she decides she will make a coat. This is her story and the challenges of making a garment from wool in Australia.
Erin Douglas is in year 12, not even finished high school yet and she has have already achieved so much in her agricultural career. She has been state winner of the 2019 Merino fleece and meat sheep competition, stud master at Moralla Stud, captain at Flinders College in the ag program at school, and she was winning competitions as a 12 year old too.
She is now embarking on a series of international events to encourage youth in sheep. In this is episode she tells us about her love for sheep, passion for youth in sheep and her international virtual showing event for juniors called the Rona Youth Show!
With Erin we explore:
What it was like learning to breed sheep through a subject at school?
What appealed to her about sheep? Why Corriedales?
When/how she knew sheep were her thing!
How she learned to judge wool and sheep?
Where she is wanting to take sheep in her future/career/business?
The Rona Youth event – how it all works and how people can get involved.
To get in touch with Erin, you can reach her at:
rona.youth.expo2020@gmail.com
Rona2020ronayouthsheeexpo
So we marked our lambs on the weekend - you did what??
What exactly is marking lambs, why do we do it, how do we do it, what do you need to do it, when do you do it and what can go wrong!
Learn about our marking set up, equipment and our challenges with marking in this episode! Happy marking!
There is nothing quite like shopping for sheep and shopping for rams is always good fun, filled with optimism and opportunity so in this episode we explore:
What do you need in a new ram?
What are your breeding objectives?
When do you need a new ram?
What genetic elements does your ram bring to your flock?
Who do you join your ram with?
What ram health aspects do you need to be aware of?
How to get your ram ready for joining?
What to do when you get your ram home?
Links:
https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/farms-fishing-forestry/agriculture/livestock/sheep/breeding-genetics/genetics/breeding-objective
https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/farms-fishing-forestry/agriculture/livestock/sheep/breeding-genetics/genetics/breeding-values
http://www.sheepgenetics.org.au/Getting-started/ASBVs-and-Indexes
So you have lambs on the ground and you are over the stress of sleepless nights and the peak lambing period so what now? Are we out of the woods or can things still go wrong?
In this episode we explore aspects of lamb health from 2 weeks old to weaning. Including:
What growth rates should I be getting from my lambs?
How to manage the health of your lambs from two weeks old to weaning
What diseases can lambs get as they are growing?
What worms impact lambs?
When to vaccinate and why?
When to plan weaning and why wean at all?
How to prevent lamb diseases?
Volume 4 of the lambing diaries and the learning journey continues!
- Heat cycle and the magic day 17-
- Interverted eyelids in lambs
- Udder health - what does a good one look like and feel like
- Freemartin ewes
- Who lambs first and last
- Lamb survival to weaning and the 60/20 rule
- Full cycles versus false or first heat cycles
- Managing the mud - how to reduce the mud baths and increase the the pasture through tillering (a shoot growing from the base of a plant)
-Foot abscesses in sheep - how to know you have one and what to do about it
In the third installment of the lambing diaries we learn that three feet and PJs don't mix!
We also explore:
- How long does a ewe take to bond with her newborn lamb
- Why maidens drop last
- Why lambs eat dirt
- Sheep udder health
- Saving a ewe
- Dealing with bloat in bottle fed lambs
- What licks to give your lambs
- How to imprint the rumen in young lambs
Well into lambing what have we learned? What tricks have we used and what miracle have we been able to perform with little lamb lives.
This lambing diary log explores:
The power of Vitamin C
The tales of triplets
A fox update
Dealing with prolapses and some bush vet work
Hybrid bottle feeding method
Recording ewe performance
Recording lamb data at birth
A lesson about not waiting to intervene
How the first two weeks of lambing has gone - learnings, reflections and challenges.
Key areas explored:
How to move ewes and lambs.
Lamb survival
Lamb recovery position
Lamb starvation
True and false heat
Meet the Thomas family from Cavendish, Western Victoria! On Saturday July 25 they ran Australia's first all breed Virtual Sheep Show! The Sheep Show Podcast got to be a special guest!
Despite hundred of agricultural shows, events and field days being cancelled due to COVID19 sheep breeders show their true colours by participating in the Rona show.
The SILK Southdown Rona Virtual Sheep Show was held live on Facebook on July 25. It was an idea born from the frustration that Imogen (12), Lexi (9) and Emma (6) had when they found out that some of their favourite shows of the year were cancelled. They managed to convince Mum, Kate and Dad, Simon and Poppy Bob Thomas was easy to persuade!
The family set to task. They created a Facebook page and were amazed by the response from breeders. Simon says ‘we just had to find a way to show our sheep, I was blown away by the response that came through’. A few breeders jumped on board really quickly and there was something for everyone. There were cute lamb classes, fancy dress classes and the hindquarter classes to entertain.
All the classes were judged by Lexi Thomas a nine year old. Lexi spent hours taking notes about each sheep from the video entries. In fact she had a notebook full of comments! Lexi gave comments on every single sheep entry all in her own words! The ewe classes were the most difficult to judge accordingly to Lexi, who studied every breed standard in detail.
The winners of the champion classes were:
Champion Ram: Fairbank White Suffolk Stud
Champion Ewe: Flinders College Corriedale ewe over 1.5
Champion Lamb: Deepeler Suffolk
Serena Award: Tillara Suffolk
CONTACT:
Simon Thomas
0408 997 223
silk3314@me.com
SILK Southdown Rona Show on Facebook
What is the ugly side of lambing? What are the serious diseases that can cause abortions in ewes? What diseases can affect your ewes during times of high stress time such a pre-lambing and lactation?
How can you prevent these issues? What treatments can you use if you find you have any of these issues with your sheep?
In this episode, the first in a series of lambing diaries, we explore metabolic diseases in sheep – pregnancy toxemia or twin lambing disease and calcium and magnesium deficiencies in sheep.
And you also get to meet Gato - my feral cat!
Meet Brett the Vet from GV Vets in Shepperton (Northern Victoria)! Brett Davis takes us to lambing 2.0 – what to do when ewe need help! All the things to be prepared for and what to do when things don’t go according to ewer plan when lambing.!
Together we Brett we explore:
What percentages of ewes lamb normally and without assistance?
What is the most common issue with lambing/most common lambing difficulty?
The correlation between lamb size, ewe health and nutrition
What might cause more triplets in ewes?
What is the issue with single lambs?
When do you intervene with lambing? What signs should you look for?
What tools or equipment should you have on hand and ready?
Benefits of using lube during a difficult lambing
Managing your own health and safety when you are helping a ewe and taking precautions for Q fever
Multi-resistance bacteria issues
What about two feet backwards?
What about back feet curled in under the body?
What do you do if the head is back?
What about if the lamb is coming backwards?
Are you more likely to get issues in triplet births – so many legs?
When you ‘go in’ what can you check for/feel when you are feeling around inside a ewe?
Mistakes shepherd make when assisting in lambing births
Should you always check for a second (if the lambing has been a difficult one)?
Why are some lambs born white and some brown/stained at birth?
Should you hook a lamb under the chin to help pull them?
How do you use a lambing rope?
When do you call the vet – know that you can’t assist anymore?
How important is critical birth weight?
How do you tube feed safety?
What you need to know about a lamb’s immunity
How to build a relationships with your Vet and why this is so important as sheep farmers and breeders?
Find out more about or contact Brett the Vet and the sheep farmer you ca find him at:
www.gvvets.com.au
www.willtshirehorns.com (Bara-Simbil Wiltshire Horn Sheep Stud)
Welcome to the first of many podcast episodes over the next few weeks on lambing. In this episode we explore how most lambs present, normal presentation. We look at pre, during and post lambing aspects that account for 95% of the lambs born.
In Lambing 101 we cover:
- Sheep gestation
- What sort of protein/feed requirements do pregnant and lactation ewes have
- How to tell if a sheep is pregnant
- What is 'bagging up'?
- How to tell if a sheep is in labour
- How long does sheep labour last and what are the stages
- Differences with pregnant maiden ewes versus older more mature ewes
- The lambing process
- How to prepare for lambing - what do you need to have on hand
- Preventing lambing issues and managing ewe health
- First signs of labour
- How long should labour last
- When to intervene
- How does a healthy lamb behave straight after birth
- How to foster lambs onto ewes
- Tips on preventing mastitis
- Udder health
- What to do with your rams when you are lambing
- Pros and cons of lambing inside versus outside
- Typical lamb behaviour
What does your lamb taste like? This was a question that led Katie and her family to start Linners Lamb, their cut and pack or paddock to plate business.
Katie and her husband run 130 Wiltshire Horn ewes on their farm near Bacchus Marsh in Victoria. They have been marketing and selling their lamb direct to consumers for three years. Katie shares her journey with us in this episode as well as the benefits of embarking on a cut and pack venture.
Together we explore:
What made Katie decide to shift to direct marketing?
How does it all work – a cut and pack option?
What challenges did they face?
What are the benefits?
How do they find customers?
Advantages and disadvantages of selling direct
Who do you need to have relationships with to get things going?
How do you choose which animals to send to the abattoir?
What are you aiming for in the future for Linner’s Lamb
You can reach Katie and Linners lamb at https://linnerslamb.com.au/.
In this episode I take the podcast from our sheep yards to our kitchen table with Geoff Davey! We sit down and record a pre-dinner sheep podcast after scanning sheep and selling a few sheep during our day together at Hallston Valley Farm. We find out that spending all day with sheep is a normal day for Geoff and that is just the way he likes it!
Together we explore:
What is muscle scanning in sheep?
Why do we muscle scan our sheep?
Benefits of scanning your sheep
Eye muscle heritability and total eye muscle area getting to know the meat ratio to weight
What do we scale for?
Selecting and culling in figures
How to use the data for sire/ram evaluation and sire selection
Making decisions with muscle scanning data
How much fat should you looking for on your sheep in millimetres?
How to significantly improve your flock in just three of four generations
You can contact Geoff and Julie Davey at stockscan@live.com or via their website www.stockscanservices.com.au
Lions and tigers and bears oh my! All countries have challenges with predators preying on sheep and lambs and the USA has some of the biggest challenges. In this episode we learn strategies to protect our flock from a pro!
Crystal, her husband and their boys run Emsoff Livestock Company in Chilcott California (near the Nevada border), focusing on show lambs, Dorpers, Hampshires and livestock guardian dogs (LGD). Crystal is a first generation sheep producer, she studied Animal Science at University in Texas, has worked for the US Forest Service managing cattle and 8,000 western range ewes in the Tahoe National Forest. She has served on the Western States Dorper Association for two years, she shows Dorpers and is training to be a sheep judge and best of all she can talk about sheep all day.
In this episode we explore:
- That Crystal is like me and you! - she can talk about sheep all day!
- What predators are there in the US? What is the impact of these predators on sheep and their business? What do predators cost (in terms of loses or $$) US sheep producers each year?
- What they use to successfully manage these predators?
- What LGDs work best?
- How should you treat a LGD?
- What about any birds of prey as lamb predators like vultures?
- What about alpacas?
- When are lambs most vulnerable to predators?
- Where should someone start if they are wanting to lamb for the first time or if they wanting to improve their lamb survival rate re predators?
You can reach Crystal at:
http://www.emsofflivestockcompany.com/
https://www.facebook.com/EmsoffLivestockCompany
Nick Lawrence founded Pinnacle Suffolk stud in 1996 with the purchase of 20 Suffolk ewes from Burwood and Urrbrae High School. Since then we have introduced leading AI sires including Alkoomie 305, Mt Ronan 276, Burwood Hurricane 1076 and NZ Coleford Sires. In 2011 Stuart Staude joined in partnership with Nick & Holly to form the basis of the White Suffolk stud with the purchase of ewes from Burwood's dispersal sale and a number of ewes purchased from the Elite Foundation sale.
Nick is a sought after and well regarded sheep judge and operates a pregnancy, muscle scanning and lamb marking business through Livescan .
In this fascinating episode with Nick we explore:
- What is structural correctness and why is this important when breeding sheep?
- What are the challenges with breeding and culling on structural correctness?
- What are the performance measures to consider when breeding sheep?
- How do you track and measure these?
- What is more important structural correctness or performance measures?
- When you are classing sheep what/which should you focus on?
- How can you increase performance in your flock?
- If you breed commercial sheep what is more important structural correctness or performance measures?
- If you breed stud sheep/pure breed sheep what is more important structural correctness or performance measures?
- When you buy sheep which element should you focus on - structural correctness or performance measures?
- How do you get the balance right between the two? What works?
You can find Nick and Pinnacle Stud via their Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/Pinnacle-Suffolk-White-Suffolk-Stud-496453700419210
What an honour to interview David Smith, the world's first scientist to develop a vaccine for a worm in any host! David is a qualified Vet, who grew up in South Africa and lives in Scotland. He has a PHD on sheep immunology and since 1975 has studied worms in sheep and how sheep have become immune to worm infections.
This research has been done at the Moredun Institute, a farmer owned and led research institution. https://www.moredun.org.uk/
You can purchase or find out more about Barbervax from Ben Foster at
https://www.grazag.com.au/
Learn more about worms online including some of the scientific terms that are used in this podcast, by your vet and more broadly in the sheep industry - go to:
http://www.wormboss.com.au/sheep-goats/
http://www.wormboss.com.au/sheep-goats/worms.php
In this fascinating episode we explore the challenges we all have with internal parasites in sheep, particularly worms. We answer questions and explore issues like drench use and drench resistance.
Listen and learn about the following:
- Why do sheep get worms/internal parasites?
- What worms impact sheep?
- What do worms do to sheep?
- How do you know if your sheep have worms? What are the symptoms to look for?
- What about scours? Is this a sign of worms?
- How or where can you do a fecal worm egg count in sheep? How to read and understand the results of this egg count?
- How can I prevent my sheep from getting internal parasites?
- What animals on our farm are most vulnerable to worms and why?
- How to reduce drench resistance?
- What about Barber’s pole worm? How is this different to the other worms?
- What are the symptoms of Barber’s pole worm?
- What the benefits are of using Barbervax to manage Barber's Pole worm.
- How does it all work? – learn the process for using Barbervax
Gary knows grass!
At 19 he was growing grass on a golf course as a turf horticulturalist! Since then he has read every book, research paper and follows all the grass youtubers that exist!
Albrecht, Voisin, Greg Judy, Joel Salatin, Gaye Brown, Pat Coleby, Colin Seis and Allan Savory are his main influences.
For the last four and a half years Gary has been putting it all into practice and growing his own grass on Hallston Valley Farm and boy do our sheep benefit from it. Our sheep should benefit, they are the ones doing the work!!
Growing great grass with zero inputs!
In this episode we learn how sheep (and other animals) eat, how does grass grow, how weeds are part of the solution, how to mimic mother nature, how to identify vulnerable pasture, when grass is ready to graze for sheep, the life cycle of grass, how we can sequest carbon with sheep, how many sheep you should have in a paddock, how long should you rest pasture for, how we can encourage diversity in pasture and how to improve the biology of the soil.
We also learn that mother nature is modest and likes to be covered!
You can reach Gary at www.hallstonvalleyfarm.com or email me, jill@hallstonvalleyfarm.com.au, and I'll pass your message, comment or question on to him!
What data should you track? What farm data are you legally obliged to record? What decisions can data and statistics help you make? What tools can you use to record data?
What to record when you are lambing? What statistics help you monitor the performance of your ewes and rams? What can help you make an informed culling decision?
Are stats everything? Where does a good sheep come into the picture?
And what on earth has Sienna Williams got to do with sheep!?
In this episode you will get answers to these questions and so much more with Simon Thomas from Silk Southdowns, Cavendish, Victoria!
You can find Simon, Kate, Imogen, Lexi and Emma at Silk Southdowns on Facebook, Instagram and at www.silksouthdowns.com.
Just how painful is it to get your tail docked? What are the animal welfare laws around tail docking? How can we, as ethical sheep breeders, make this practice and lamb castration more numbing for lambs?
In this podcast, with product design engineer Robin Smith we learn about how one man's passion for user centered design has led to a new way of doing things in the sheep industry. This new approach benefits our lambs, ourselves and anyone who eats lamb or wears wool!
In fact Robin and his global team have worked for over 10 years to bring us the Numnuts Device. Learn about this device, how it works and what it can do for you and your lambs on this fact filled podcast episode of The Sheep Show Podcast.
You'll also realize that no matter what it is, it all starts with sheep! Sheep First Forever!!
You can contact Robin via www.numnuts.store or robin@numnuts.store.
What are the benefits of breeding wool sheep? What can wool tell you about a sheep's health? What are the different types of wool sheep? What does wool offer us? Learn more about wool from the Godfather of Sheep and all round Aussie legend Gavin Wall!
You can contact Gavin Wall at gavin.wall@iinet.net.au.
Agricultural like many other industries is very fond of TLAs and FLAs - that's Three Letter Acronyms and Four/Five Letter Acronyms!!
Demystify the mire of legal obligations in this episode which introduces you to what you need to know and do in your country when you own, sell, buy or move sheep.
So whether you are a shepherd in Canada, United States of America, Ireland, Australia, United Kingdom or Europe this podcast will help you know your PIDs from your PINs and PICs!!
Jason O'Loghlin (O'Loghlin Wiltshire Horn Stud) and Jill's sheep mentor shares his tips and strategies for buying sheep, selecting breeding stock and rams, breeding a consistent line and his love of loin chops!
How to avoid the rookie mistakes people make when buying sheep! What to look for when you are buying sheep? What age sheep to buy if you a first timer buyer or wanting to improve your stud/flock? What do rams really cost you!?
You can contact Jason directly at: jologhlin@ymail.com
Can you learn sheep skills formally? In this episode the inspiring siblings of sheep share their learning journey. It started with their high school agricultural program at Tintern Grammar School in Melbourne and now continues with their studies at the University of New England in New South Wales.
They share their sheep secrets, who has influenced and who has helped them to learn.
Age is no barrier to learning to sheep well!
Find Olivia and Ashlea and their amazing Romneys via their facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/marbellaromneys-106859314317970/
What apps can help you in your sheep enterprise! Learn about phone applications that can help you with our sheep breeding, planning and farming. All applications are available for apple and android devices.
Finally revealed the 'top secret' secrets to breeding sheep! How much is down to environment? Where do genetics fit in? What about ram health? How do I know my ewes are ready to join? What do I need to do to prepare for lambing? What health indicators do I need to know to breed and farm healthy sheep?
Top Secret Sheep Secrets - What you need to know about breeding sheep!!
1. 30% Genetic or heritability 70% nutrition/feed/environment
2. Manage and monitor your environment
3. Get data on your ram, circumference matters
4. Condition score ewes and sheep in general
5. Intervene if not lambed within two hours
6. Review lambing positions
7. Know the basics – temperature is crucial, invest in a digital thermometer
8. Sheep are particularly sensitive to mineral deficiencies and overdoses
9. Look at your sheep’s manure
10. Know the breed standard –ASSBA or breed associations
11. Learn about structural correctness
12. Mix groups = mix bugs
Body temperature – 38.3 – 39.3 C
Heart rate – 60-110 beats per minute
Respiratory rate – 10-30 breaths per minute (watch flanks counting every inhalation for 15 seconds, x4 = rate per minute
Where do sheep originate from? What types of sheep are there? What sheep are polyestrous and what ones are seasonal breeders? What is the difference between a wool sheep, meat sheep, composite sheep, pure breed, cross breed, commercial and stud sheep!.
Learn about the history of sheep and find your match for what type of sheep will suit you and your land/environment, infrastructure, time, budget, skills and sales strategy.
So who is Jill Noble and Gary Tie? And who is behind Hallston Valley Farm? What do they do at Hallston Valley Farm? What type of sheep do they have? And why a podcast and not a book?
Brett Jarman from 'Experts on Line' interviews Jill and Gary on their backgrounds, their journey and their farm. Brett realizes that Jill is besotted with sheep!
How and when did your sheep journey start? Was is like me, as a child, or maybe from an ag program in school or maybe you have come to shepherding as an adult or even in retirement.
To shepherd sheep well you need skills, tools, techniques, infrastructure and sometimes patience!
Most of all you need passion! I have always loved sheep so I've got passion in bucket loads! All the other stuff has been learning, trial and error, mentors, attending shows and reading. I've never found a dedicated sheep podcast. So... I created one!
This podcast will help you to learn more, know more and achieve more from and with your sheep. This episode sets the scene for 'The Sheep Show podcast'!